Lighthouse Would Serve No Purpose
By Sue Clark on Oct 17, 2007 in Opinion 
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That’s the opinion being given by the Vice President of the Tamil Nadu Fishermen’s Association, Rajendira Nattar, about the new 100 foot tall lighthouse planned for Poompuhar in Nagapattinam district, India. The Union Ministry of Shipping has sanctioned the construction of the new beacon, to join with the three sunctional lighthouses in the district. The new light would be constructed under the direct supervision of the Chennai Lighthouse (CC photo pictured at left by Velachery Balu) authorities after soil testing is done to find the best location for the new lighthouse. The new light would benefit 10,000 fishermen, according to a story in The Hindu online.
Nattar stated that all the fishermen had the latest electronic gadgetry and that the lighthouse would only be an additional utility for identifying the location. With GPS, sonar, and all the latest equipment, he felt it would be redundant. He also stated that vessels passing the area were also well equipped to identify the area.
Well, yeah, most are nowadays, but there is still nothing like a visual mark for quick identification. Not all boats have the latest and greatest technology, and if you’re at the helm of a vessel, in my opinion you’d better be watching where you’re going, not looking at some electronic display. To me, the Global Positioning System, RADAR, and other electronic gadgets dumb us down to some extent. We begin to rely on the technology, and lose our abilities to navigate “by the stars.” If these electronic gizmos fail, what do we do? We need to rely on our inborn senses. And a coastline looks pretty much the same from a distance, unless there is some clearly identifiable waymark.
Lighthouse News applauds the government of India for its plans to add additional aids to navigation in the country.
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