The Lighthouse is the part of Onjal Machhiwad village about 20 Km from Navsari Railway Station on Mumbai-Surat section. Regular buses ply from Navsari to Onjal Machhiwad.
There is no other activity except fishing at Onjal Machhiwad port. The fishermen used to sail out taking the assistance of a white dome on the coast serving as a day mark Beacon during olden days. Afterwards a light used to be exhibited from a temporary wooden trestle.
With the passage of time the demand for providing a major Lighthouse came due to the increased vessel traffic in the gulf of Khambat that needed a powerful light at this location. Accordingly a 30 m high RCC Tower was constructed at this site. in the northern region of Ambika river entrance. The PRB- 42 equipment supplied by ANA, New Delhi was installed and commissioned into service on 13th March 1983.
Initially a wind generator was provided on experimental basis to charge the batteries, it got damaged and had to be removed in 1993 .The charging was then switched over to mains supply. The solar panels and a genset were installed at the station on 30th March 1999 as alternate sources of energy.
A 2.4 m diameter Galvanised Iron lantern house fabricated at Mumbai, was installed at the station in May 2002. The `C’ type sealed beam lamps were replaced by `D’ type lamps on 30th April,2003. |
