Erosion threatens Gopalpur lighthouse. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, June 28: The Gopalpur lighthouse, one of the oldest in the state, is under threat due to sea erosion. Commissioned on the sea beach here in 1871, the structure, which could have been a tourist attraction, lies unattended.

Gopalpur beach has been facing the wrath of erosive action of sea waves. The lighthouse, like many hotels in Gopalpur, has been damaged by the recent high tides.

“The 90feet compound wall on the eastern side of the lighthouse, which was constructed in 1966, was washed away by the sea four years ago. But it has not been repaired by the government authorities despite repeated requests by the director general of lighthouse,” said Malaya Biswas, head light-keeper.

After relief commissioner and director, Tourism Orissa, was informed about its state, engineers and officials of the design department of the state water resources visited the site but did not take any action, Biswas said.

“The lighthouse came into existence 140 years ago when the first beacon, a wick lamp, was lit and hoisted on the eight meter high steel mast. Storm warning signals were also hoisted on the same mast that stood on the lighthouse compound,” said A.K. Das, assistant light-keeper. These facilities were subsequently upgraded in 1892 and 1925.

After heavy erosion in 1943, the light and storm warning signal service had to be discontinued only to be resumed in 1948. In 2004, the light system was upgraded one more time.

The range of the beacon of the Gopalpur lighthouse is 26 nautical miles (1 nautical mile is 1.82 km). “The Gopalpur lighthouse is the main attraction for tourists who visit the beach. Urgent steps must be taken to prevent it from sea erosion,” said Das.

“Due to global warming, the sea level is rising at the rate of 1 cm per decade and the beach erodes during high tide. Most of the areas close to the sea beach will be submerged in the near future,” said Prof. Lakshman Nayak of the marine science department at Berhampur University.

“Sea erosion has been persisting for a long time but nothing has been done systematically and scientifically to explore the beach. No scientific investigation is carried out,” said Prof. Ram Chandra Panigrahi, who is also from the department of marine science, Berhampur University.

Prof. Pratap Kumar Mohanty said some “nourishment” measures could protect the erosion of the sea beach and the ancient lighthouse.

“Installation of revetments or seawalls could be helpful but it can in no way be the only protective measure. In this case, soft shoreline protection solution can be thought of,” he said.