Question

Name the southernmost point in India. Is it visible today?

Answer 1

Hint: The Southernmost point of India was badly affected by the 2004 Tsunami and was submerged in water due to the rise in the mean sea level.

Complete answer: The southernmost part of India is known as the Indira Point. Before being named as Indira Point, after the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, this point was known as the Pygmalion Point. This point falls in the nicobar group of Islands in the Bay of Bengal and lies at 8 degrees N latitude. It is a sparsely populated village and it has a population of only 27 people. According to the 2011 Census of India, only 4 families have their permanent residences in this village. The Indira Point is now famous for its lighthouse which has been actively providing services to the ships and vessels which travel from the Strait of Malacca.
Indira Point tip was located towards the south of this lighthouse on the island but due to the massive Tsunami that originated in the Sumatra Islands of Indonesia on 26 December 2004, the point went below the sea level upto a depth of 4.5 metres. Therefore, this point now remains submerged underwater and the lighthouse is the southernmost tip of land that is accessible on foot.

Note: Indira Gandhi had visited this island on 19 february 1984 and the then Member of Parliament of Andaman and Nicobar Islands had suggested renaming this place. After the death of Indira Gandhi, the official renaming was done on 10 October 1985.