The iconic 181-year-old Old Lighthouse on the city’s Beach Promenade is in urgent need of restoration. The Union Finance Ministry has approved the work, but it has been held up while government departments decide how to go about it.
The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) report on the building says, “The lime plaster had peeled away on the exterior with bricks exposed on the façade. Vegetation had grown on the building and the railings surrounding the rotating beam have been damaged. The wooden rafters on the first floor were also damaged.”
Since 2009, a proposal to convert the structure into a museum tracing the rich maritime history tradition of the Coromandel Coast has been gathering dust.
Sources say that the National Centre for Safety of Heritage Structures (NCSHS) had already submitted a report in March, recommending immediate restoration.
The Puducherry government has suggested that the Department of Customs and Central Excise — which controls the building and has offices in it — hand over the building so that work could begin, and promised to provide it with alternative offices.
Meanwhile, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) wants the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to handle the restoration.
Despite a series of meetings, no progress has been made. A joint meeting will be convened, with NCSHS, ASI, CPWD and the Customs and Excise Department.
Vestige of history
The 27-metre high structure is a Grade-I listed heritage building, one among 21 notified by the Union Territory as protected and to be restored.
The tower originally had a square base, with a room for the lighthouse keeper. Ashok Panda of INTACH says that the beacon was initially from 12 oil lamps and was visible for 17 miles. In 1886, the lamps were replaced by a rotating battery-powered beam that could be seen for 25 miles.
The Old Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1979.
