Puri: Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal announced Sunday that two new lighthouses will be built along Odisha’s coast to boost tourism in the state.
The new monuments will be set up at Chaumukha in Balasore district and Dhamra in Bhadrak, he said while addressing the 2nd Indian Lighthouse Festival here.
At present, Odisha has five lighthouses—Gopalpur, Puri, Chandrabhaga, Paradip, and False Point.
Sonowal, the minister of ports, shipping & waterways, said the coastal communities of the country would be developed as societies in order to enable and empower them within the vicinity of lighthouses.
A central association of all these societies would be created to give a national momentum to celebrate the lighthouses as national icons and the cultural heritage & legacy of India’s rich maritime sector, he said.
The union minister also inaugurated Kalwan reef lighthouse at Jamnagar in Gujarat as well as stacker-cum-reclaimant and a flyover at Padadip Port in Odisha.
“The Indian Lighthouse Festival or ‘Bharatiya Prakash Sthamb Utsav’ has been receiving laurels from all quarters of the country as we continue our efforts to further bolster facilities for the tourists – both domestic and foreign – for a memorable experience at these wonderful monuments,” he said.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government is taking all steps to realise the full potential of India’s rich cultural heritage as well as its historical legacy in propelling the economic growth of the country, he said.
Sonowal said his ministry is committed to ushering in a new chapter of growth in the country’s blue economy.
He said that the tourists’ footfall in the lighthouses witnessed a rise of more than 400 per cent since 2014.
“From 4 lakhs tourists in 2014, it reached 16 lakh in the last fiscal,” the minister said.
“We have already crossed 9 lakhs in the first half of the current fiscal, and it is evident that the growing trend of lighthouses as tourists’ hotspots will continue,” he said.
With an investment of Rs 60 crore, 75 iconic lighthouses across nine coastal states and one union territory have been developed.
Each lighthouse has become a beacon of both heritage and recreation, with modern amenities such as museums, amphitheatres, children’s parks, and more, an official said.
The Chief Minister of Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi joined the Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at the valedictory session of the festival.
Among others, Union ministers Shantanu Thakur and Suresh Gopi, and Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida attended the meeting Sunday.
PTI