Bhubaneswar, Aug. 10: Solar energy now powers six lighthouses in Odisha, which have been in existence since the British era.
These lighthouses are located at Chandrabhaga and Puri (Puri district), Gopalpur and Prayagi (Ganjam district), False Point (Kendrapara district) and Paradip (Jagatsinghpur district).
The Gopalpur lighthouse became functional in 1871 to assist coastal shipping between Rangoon and Coromandal ports. The steamer service to Rangoon also used to touch Gopalpur port in the past.
The Chandrabhaga lighthouse, located just 3.5km from the Sun Temple in Konark on the Puri-Konark marine drive, was set up in 1967.
The False Point lighthouse was one of the oldest on the eastern coast. It is situated on a large island on the Mahanadi river delta. Ships of the British East India Company coming to Calcutta port used to mistake the Mahanadi river mouth for the Hooghly and this why the point came to be known as False Point. The British traders, therefore, decided to build a lighthouse near the mouth of Mahanadi and name it the False Point lighthouse.
These lighthouses have been powered with solar power at the initiative by the Union ministry of shipping. The objective of the move was to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, say officials of directorate general of lighthouse and lightships.
Before this, lighthouses in the state operated on conventional energy. These have been replaced with solar energy as part of a Union shipping ministry plan. All of the six lighthouses have been be powered by solar panels as a pollution control measure.
The light beam of a lighthouse can be seen from a maximum distance of 36km.
Head of Paradip lighthouse B.K. Datta said: "At present, we are able to generate 1KW of solar energy to send a beam light signal. The solar plant is being further expanded."
As the lighthouses are located close to famous sea beaches such as Puri, Chandrabhaga, Gopalpur and Paradip, plans are afoot to develop these as tourist destinations. Beautification of these sites has been taken up after an increase in tourist footfall.
