Examine how the Marine Aids to Navigation Act, 2021 updates the colonial framework for maritime navigation and heritage.

The Marine Aids to Navigation Act, 2021 (Act No. 20 of 2021) [2] repealed the Lighthouse Act, 1927 [1]. The old law was a colonial one built around a single device, the lighthouse. The new Act covers navigation aids whatever their technology, and it gives India's 205 lighthouses a second role as heritage sites [5].

Limits of the 1927 framework

• It was mainly about looking after lighthouses and lightships [1]. It had little room for radio, satellite and digital aids or for vessel traffic management.
• It gave lighthouses no legal heritage or tourism role. The towers were treated only as working structures.

How the Act updates navigation

• Wider scope: an "aid to navigation" now means any device, system or service outside a ship that makes navigation safer [1].
• Vessel Traffic Services (VTS): the Centre manages VTS, and any provider needs authorisation [1].
• Skilled workforce: people who operate aids or VTS must be trained and certified, and training bodies must be accredited [1].
• Deterrence: damaging an aid can bring up to one year in jail or a ₹5 lakh fine [1].
• Revenue: the Centre can charge marine aids to navigation dues on ships using Indian ports [1].
• Modern equipment: 87 AIS stations on lighthouses track ships' positions, which feeds coastal security [3].

How the Act updates heritage

• Heritage lighthouse: the Centre can designate any aid it controls as a heritage lighthouse. The tower keeps guiding ships and is also developed for educational, cultural and tourism use [1].
• Results: 75 lighthouses with tourist facilities in 10 States/UTs for ₹60 crore, with 16 lakh visitors in 2023–24 [4]. Visitors rose to 18.63 lakh in 2024–25 [5].
• Museum: DGLL is funding a ₹266.11 crore lighthouse museum at the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC), Lothal [5].

Gaps that remain

• Wrong fit: DGLL is an engineering and navigation body. It now brings crowds near sensitive AIS equipment. It also lacks conservation skills for towers like Mahabalipuram's, which stands on the roof of the Olakkaneeswar Temple [5].
• Priorities: dues paid by ships for safety are partly paying for a museum [1][5].
• Weak data: visitor numbers are not published for each lighthouse, and the benefit to local people is not measured.

In short, the Act turns a colonial law about keeping lamps lit into a modern framework that covers technology, trained people and heritage. Separate visitor zones, ASI help for towers on monuments, and open accounts of how dues are spent would make lighthouses both safe beacons and living landmarks. That would fit Maritime India Vision 2030 [4] and SDG 14.