Odisha’s five lighthouses, which have been providing safe voyage to mariners and navigators since the British era, will be developed into eco-tourism destinations on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model as a part of a country-wide programme to give infrastructure facelift to these Victorian age coastal establishments.

The central government has initiated action for the development of tourism at five lighthouses-Gopalpur (Ganjam) Puri lighthouse (Puri), Chandrabhaga (Puri), Paradip (Jagatsinghpur), and False Point (Kendrapara)- in Odisha on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the union minister of ports, shipping and waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal replying to a query by BJD MP Prashanta Nanda told the Rajya Sabha yesterday.

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The project components for the above Lighthouses have been finalized and necessary clearances from State Coastal Zone Management Authority for Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance and other local bodies have been sought. Since the above projects are on PPP mode, no fund allocation is envisaged, the union minister informed the upper house.

As the lighthouses are lying in close proximity to serene sea beaches, the project is being implemented to develop these centres as tourist destinations. Already beautification of the lighthouse sites has been undertaken. As a result of which, there has been a marked increase in tourists’ footfall in all these lighthouses in the state.

The prime aim of the project is to promote lighthouse-based tourism to enhance and develop the existing lighthouses and their surrounding areas into a tourism destination, maritime landmarks, and heritage precinct and also to develop allied maritime infrastructure like National Maritime Museums & National Lighthouse Museum.

Of the lighthouses in Odisha, the False-point lighthouse, which is the oldest lighthouse on the eastern coast, was commissioned by the Englishmen in 1838. The lighthouse campus encloses the small clusters of graves of Englishmen who died while officiating there.

The gravestones carry inscriptions of lighthouse staff and their families who met their end than in the isolated Island. Prominent among those who perished then was Captain H.A.Harris, the conservator of Orissa ports. He met a watery grave in May 1877. His memory is treasured in the cemetery.