Indira Point, the southernmost point of India's territory, is a village in the Nicobar district at Great Nicobar Island of

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is located in the Great Nicobar

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

. Rondo Island, Indonesia's northernmost island in Sabang district of

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

province of

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, lies 163 km south of Little Andaman Island, and 145 km or 80 nautical miles from Indira Point. India and Indonesia are upgrading the deep sea port Sabang under the strategic military and economic collaboration to protect the channel between Great Nicobar Island and Rondo Island (c. May 2019),India seeks to aid Indonesia in developing port in Aceh
Economic Times, 19 May 2018. which is 612 km or 330 nautical miles from Indira Point.

Etymology

This village was named Indira Point after former Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

. The point was formerly known as Pygmalion Point and Parsons Point. It was renamed in honour of Indira Gandhi during mid-1980s. The announcement was made by the local Member of Parliament when Indira Gandhi visited the local light house on 19 February 1984. The official renaming ceremony happened on 10 October 1985.

History

The Indira Point

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

was commissioned into service on 30 April 1972. Located 500 kilometres north of the epicenter of the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+07:00, UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicenter, epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The Submarine earthquake, undersea ...

, the southernmost tip subsided after the earthquake, and many of the inhabitants went missing in the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

that followed. Sixteen to twenty families living next to the lighthouse and four scientists studying leatherback sea turtles were lost.

Geography

Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...

is connected to mainland India via air service. From Port Blair, Campbell Bay can be reached by Pawan Hans Helicopter service. Inter Island Boat from Port Blair is also available which usually travels via Little Andaman, Car Nicobar and Nancowry en route to Campbell Bay. MV Campbell Bay also operates once in a week from Port Blair (Phoenix Bay) to Campbell Bay. Government is also constructing a 21 km road from Shashtri Nagar to Indira Point via a bridge on the Galathea river. The total length of the road from Zero Point to Indira Point will be 56 km and it will completed within next few years (c. 2017).Zero point to Indira Point road
/ref> This area is protected by the

Indian Coast Guard The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and Exclusive economic zone of India, exclusive economic zone. It was st ...

. Galathea National Park and Lighthouse are the major attractions here.

Administration

The village comes under the administration of Laxmi Nagar panchayat.List of Villages
, Integrated Management Information System (IMIS), Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Demographics

The village lost many of its residents in the 2004 tsunami. According to the 2011 census of India, Indira Point has only 4 households left. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 85.19%.

References