ETW Staff – Mumbai
The Kanhoji Angre Island Lighthouse off the Mumbai coast is to be converted into a new tourist attraction. A formal announcement to this effect was made by Dr. K Chiranjeevi, minister of State for tourism along with Milind Deora, minister of State for shipping, at the Port Trust headquarters in Mumbai. The Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Shipping have drawn up plans to develop 15 lighthouses across the country as places of tourist attractions. Speaking on the occasion, Chiranjeevi said, “The Ministry has agreed to extend financial assistance for the development of lighthouses as tourist attractions. In the first phase, the Kanhoji Angre Island ighthouse near Mumbai, the lighthouse located at the Dolphin Nose Point in Visakhapatnam and the one located at the Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) near Chennai are being developed as pilot projects. Of these, Kanhoji Angre Island Lighthouse is the only one which is located in the middle of the sea.”
Elaborating on this, Deora said, “The development of Kanhoji Angre Island Lighthouse includes conservation of light house and viewing gallery, conservation of fort wall, tent style accommodation, construction of jetty and passenger terminal and electrification through solar power system. The thrust is on developing the new destinations in an eco-friendly manner. The work at Kanhoji Angre Island Lighthouse is expected to be completed within 10 months.” The Ministries of Tourism and Shipping believe that development of such lighthouses will not only protect national heritage, but will also help evince new interest among youth about maritime history.
