Chennai Lighthouse is one of the 13 lighthouses in India that are identified as heritage centres to portray maritime history of India.[17] A lighthouse museum has been planned at a cost of INR 50 million.[18][19] The union shipping ministry is planning to build museums, rooms, cafeteria, souvenir shop, viewers gallery, 4D cinema hall, gaming zone and aquarium at the Chennai lighthouse.[20][21] The heritage museum will showcase the history of marine navigation, where oil-bearing large wicks, kerosene lights, petroleum vapour, and electrical lamps used in the past will be on display.[15] , Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships has planned the remote control and automation of lighthouses in Cochin, Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata directorates at a cost of INR 304.5 million.[22] As a first step towards automation of lighthouses, Radone, an equipment that can detect radar signals from ships and helps captains identify the location, has been installed on most lighthouses. The automation of lighthouses in the Chennai Lighthouse District is estimated to cost about INR 50 million during the 11th Five-Year Plan.[23] The 22 lighthouses in the Chennai Lighthouse district will be monitored and controlled from conveniently located positions termed as Remote Control Stations (RCSs). These RCSs will be ultimately linked to Master Control Station, proposed to be located at Chennai for effective control. The entrance channel tower (date unknown) Chennai Lighthouse, as seen from the northwest side Located north of the port, the entrance channel tower is about 24 metres (79 ft) high with a focal plane of 26 metres (85 ft), flashing white, red and green lights, and the tower is visible only from a distance closer to the entrance channel. This tower was assigned an Admiralty number of F0938 and NGA number of 27074. This tower is still active.[13] The first tower (1796--1844) The first light at Madras, a lantern on the wall of the Fort St. George, is inactive since 1844. The second tower (1844--1894) The second lighthouse was a tall granite Doric column erected in 1841 and is located within the compound of the Madras High Court to the north of Fort St. George. This round fluted stone tower with gallery is 49 metres (161 ft) tall.[14] Built on a base of 55-feet breadth, its column rises 84 feet with a tapering diameter—16 feet at the base and 11 feet at the top. The entire structure from base to tip has a height of 125 feet. The light was at 117 feet and was visible 20 miles into the sea. Illumination was by 15 "argand lamps with parabolic reflectors, arranged in three tiers." Unlike the earlier rotary model, it had a reciprocal type of light, with the ratio of bright-to-dark periods being 2:3 and with each unit of time being 24 seconds.[6] This tower was assigned an ARLHS number of IND-027. This tower is inactive since 1894 after it was moved atop the dome of the new High Court building built in 1892. watch full tamil movie jilla vijay,full tamil movie ajith veeram. The third tower (1894--1977) The lantern from the second tower was moved to one of the tallest ornate towers of the Madras High Court building, which was constructed adjacent to the second tower in 1892. It was assigned an ARLHS number of IND-026. This tower is inactive since 1977. The fourth tower (1977--present) The present lighthouse is a triangular cylindrical concrete one with lantern and double gallery and is 11 stories high. The tower is attached to a three-story circular harbour-control building. The total height of the tower is 45.72 metres (150.0 ft) with the light source standing at a height of 57 metres (187 ft) from the mean sea level. The source consists of 440V 50 Hz main supply (with standby Genset). The base of the present lighthouse tower was damaged by the waves from the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004, but there were no reported casualties. Security[edit] The ninth floor of the tower has a viewing gallery where steel welded mesh panels have been erected for safety. This has been done to avoid suicide attempts which were witnessed in the past. The tenth floor has a high-security radar installed and is not open to public. The elevator in the lighthouse will take the visitors directly to the viewing gallery on the ninth floor and visitors will not be given access to any other floors.[15] The lighthouse was open to the public until the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, following which it was shut down over fears that it would be the target of an attack. The Chennai lighthouse re-opened for visitors on 14.11.2013.[16]

• published: 03 Jan 2014
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