|
The opening of Suez Canal in 1862, which shortened the sea distance between Europe and Far East by 6500 km, increased the importance of Minicoy Island, which has the strategic position in the ship route of Aden to Colombo and Suez to Singapore. Minicoy, a crescent shaped Island is famous for its beautiful lagoon, coral reefs and thickly grown coconut trees. The shipwrecks on the coral reefs near the island made the British Government consider construction of a lighthouse at Minicoy. In consultation with Lord Rippon, then Governor General of British India, a decision was taken in 1882 to construct a 46m high lighthouse, which would have an all-a-round visibility above the tall coconut trees.
Howah Manica, the youngest daughter, of the then Amin of Minicoy, laid the foundation stone for the lighthouse in May 1883. Since no building materials were available on the island, which is hardly one meter above mean sea level, black bricks were brought from Birmingham in England; cement from Holland; and teak wood from the Indian mainland. Masons and skilled workers were brought from the Galls (Sri Lanka) and local workers were engaged to assist them. Construction of the 46m high round brick masonry tower with an iron pre-fabricated spiral staircase in the middle was completed in March 1884. There are 5 intermediate floors inside the tower of which 3 were made to accommodate Assistant Lightkeepers. The first floor held 28 steel tanks of 600-litre capacity each to store kerosene. A two-bedroom home for the Head Lightkeeper and a common kitchen and dining room were also constructed. The light, with a first order optic and kerosene wick lamps was first exhibited on 2nd February, 1885 in the presence of the Amin of Minicoy and Sir James Douglass, the representative of British Government.
Due to complaints from mariners the light source was improved in the year 1928 by installing petroleum vapor burners with mantle. Since then, no shipwreck has been reported from that area.
The construction and maintenance of Minicoy Lighthouse was done by the United Kingdom Board of Trade. In 1934, the administration of Minicoy Lighthouse was handed over to a Board of Sri Lankan Government. Even though India became an Independent Nation on 15th August 1947 and Minicoy Island declared as a part of independent India, the administration of Minicoy lighthouse was not handed over to the Indian lighthouse authorities and until April 1956, Sri Lankan nationals were keeping the Minicoy lighthouse. Only after passing the required legislation by both the Houses of British Parliament on 19th September 1963, was the lighthouse formally handed over to the Department of Lighthouses and Lightships of India.
Further improvements were made in the lighthouse equipment in the year 1968, by changing the lantern room, optic and light source. The lantern room removed from Minicoy Lighthouse was later installed at Nagapattinam lighthouse in the southeast coast of the Indian mainland and is still in good condition. The new equipment had a first order (920mm focal length) with revolving optic and a clockwork mechanism for rotation and a 85mm P.V. Burner as light source. The clockwork mechanism had wire rope and weight to rotate the optic throughout the night with one single winding. Due to constant twisting of wire ropes, this was later modified as winding in every 3 hours. After modifications, the brilliancy of light became 1.2 Million candlepower with a range of 26 Nautical miles. At present the light-source is 400 W Metal Hallide Lamp and the rotation of optic is done using electronic pulse motors.
A ‘Nautal’ made medium frequency Radio beacon with a range of 400km, and a call sign ‘NY’ was commissioned at Minicoy lighthouse in 1983 and two years later a Racon also was installed at the lighthouse top. Minicoy became a D.G.P.S. reference station in 1998. On 2nd February 1985, the centenary celebration of Minicoy Lighthouse was conducted at Minicoy Island. To mark that occasion, a commemorative postage stamp and a first day cover were released on that day. Minicoy is the only lighthouse in India with a postage stamp to its credit.
Minicoy Island, which has the biggest and the most beautiful lagoon in India always attracted tourists and the beautiful lighthouse got its share. The visitors to Minicoy Lighthouse include two Indian Prime Ministers, the late Sri.Rajiv Gandhi and present Prime Minister Sri. A.B. Vajpai.
Minicoy Lighthouse is still a manned station and under the Assistant Engineer (Electronics), three Assistant Light-keepers work there. All rations except fish and coconut come from Indian mainland. Rainwater is collected by catchments for drinking. The coral reefs of Minicoy are full of lobsters, crabs and all varieties of fish and lightkeepers with an interest in fishing never have to depend on the supply from the local fishing boats.
The boat jetty constructed at the time of construction of lighthouse has now disappeared and the present public boat jetty is 5km away and connected to lighthouse with a concrete road. Telephone and fax facilities are available in the lighthouse, but for post and newspaper one has to depend the ships which touch the island once in a week or 10 days in the fair season. The 114 years old lighthouse is still strong enough to serve the mariners in the next millennium.
This story appeared in the
February 2001 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.
| 