A Short Note on Indira Point

History of Indira Point

The Indira Point lighthouse was dedicated to the public on April 30, 1972.

The southernmost tip of India, about 500 kilometres north of the epicentre of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, sank 4.25 metres following the earthquake, and many of the residents perished in the tsunami that followed.  Sixteen to twenty families that lived near the lighthouse, as well as four scientists who were studying leatherback sea turtles, perished.

Indira Point – Interesting Facts

• Indira Point, in Great Nicobar Island’s Campbell Bay, is India’s southernmost point, just 150 kilometres from Sumatra, Indonesia.
• It is situated in the tehsil of Great Nicobar.

Indira Point’s latitude and longitude coordinates are 6°45’38” N, and 93°48’85” E.

• Indira Gandhi visited this location during her time as India’s Prime Minister, and it was given the moniker Indira Point.

• Indira Point, formerly known as Pygmalion Point and Parsons Point, is the southernmost point of the Indian subcontinent, located approximately 163 kilometres from Rondo Island in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Banda Aceh.

• Leatherback turtles, green turtles, and hawksbills all have considerable breeding and feeding populations on Great Nicobar Island, which is part of the Andaman & Nicobar group of islands.
• Hawksbill sea turtles have been seen nesting on a handful of the island’s beaches. Hawksbills have been seen nesting at Indira Point, according to reports (or Pygmalion point, as it was then known).
• The beach at Indira point is less than half a kilometre in length, and the offshore approach is very rocky.

• The lighthouse at Indira Point, on the southernmost extremity of Great Nicobar Island, which was on high ground before the earthquake, is now submerged, suggesting a 3-4 m land subsidence.

The southernmost point of India

Great Nicobar Island is home to Indira Point, India’s southernmost point.

• Pygmalion Point and Parsons Point were the previous names for the point.

• After Indira Gandhi visited the place in 1984, it was renamed. In October 1985, it was given a new name.

• There is a lighthouse on the island that was built in 1972.

Pygmalion point

Indira point, also known as Pygmalion Point and Parsons point, is India’s southernmost point. During Indira Gandhi’s visit to the point on February 19, 1984, a local MP requested that the name of the Pygmalion point be altered and preserved after the name of Indira Gandhi. On the 10th of October 1984, after Indira Gandhi’s death, a formal renaming ceremony was held.

How Indira point is submerged

• Indira Point is a settlement in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ Nicobar district. Pygmalion Point and Parsons Point were the past names for this location. 
• It is India’s southernmost point of territory. It was obliterated by the tsunami that struck on January 26, 2004. This was the first location to be wiped out by a tsunami.

Indira Point

• Indira Point is a settlement in the Nicobar district of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India, and it is the southernmost point of Indian territory.
• Rondo Island, Indonesia’s northernmost island, is located in the Sabang district of Sumatra’s Aceh province, 163 kilometres south of Little Andaman Island and 145 kilometres or 80 nautical miles north of Indira Point.\
• The main attractions here are the Galathea National Park and Lighthouse.

The deep sea port at Sabang is being upgraded by India and Indonesia as part of strategic military and commercial partnership to secure the strait between Great Nicobar Island and Rondo Island, which is 612 kilometres or 330 nautical miles from Indira Point.

Conclusion

On April 30, 1972, the Indira Point lighthouse was commissioned into operation.

The southernmost tip of the island, about 500 kilometres north of the epicentre of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, dropped 4.25 metres as a result of the earthquake, and many residents perished in the tsunami that followed. Sixteen to twenty families who lived near the lighthouse, as well as four scientists researching leatherback sea turtles, were among those who perished.