Expectations on B.G Conversion in the pending stretch of Pollachi – Kollengode – Palakkad ( 58 k.m) as well as the Kollengode – Thrissur (54 k.m), a Green Rail Corridor for Value Addition of Tourism in Nenmara and Nelliyampathy Hill station.

( Madan Menon Thottasseri )

Happy to know now that the gauge conversion in the Palani – Pollachi stretch (67 k.m) is completed and just underwent the CRS Inspection including Speed Trial Run entailing the introduction of trains in the section. CRS (Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, Bangalore) Satish Kumar Mittal conducted a speed trial run in the newly converted Palani-Pollachi broad gauge section here on Tuesday, 25^th November, 2014.

The Commissioner did travel on a loco train from Palani to Udumalpet for checking the track and lateron continued his inspection on a trolley towards Pollachi for on-the-spot inspection. After inspecting signals, level crossings and stations between Udumalpet and Pollachi, the Commissioner conducted a non-stop speed trial from Pollachi to Palani, covering a distance of 80 km in less than an hour. In the return direction, the inspection special train left Pollachi at 3.32 p.m. and reached Palani at 4.21 p.m!

                 (Speed trial run being conducted on the newly laid Palani-Pollachi broad gauge track in Palani on 25.11.2014)

The inspection special train did run at a maximum speed of 120 km to test the strength of the track. The speed trial became the last phase of inspection before introduction of trains. Of course only y, goods and local passenger trains would be permitted to run for few months prior to the operation of express trains in this section. On the basis information collected through various parameters during inspection and technical report, the Commissioner would certify the track. Later, operation of trains would commence, positively by the end next month, they added.

Madurai Divisional Railway Manager A.K. Rastogi, Construction Organisation Chief Administrative Officer R. Venkadasamy, Chief Engineer (Construction) Prafulla Verma, Chief Signal and Telecom Engineer Ajith Kumar, Deputy Chief Engineers Sarangapani and Ramakrishnan, Senior Divisional Safety Officer A. Ravichandran and others officials had accompanied CRS- Satish Kumar Mittal.

The conversion work in the pending stretch of Pollachi – Kollengode – Palakkad ( 58 k.m) is very significant as it will be the last phase of the Palakkad – Dindigul B.G conversion project. The ongoing conversion works in the stretch is to be expedited so that Southern Railway can make it feasible to operate express trains between Alappuza, Ernakulam, Guruvayur, Mangalore, Kannur, Palakkad and temple towns like Palani,Madurai,Rameswaram, Thiruchchi (Trichy) , Nagore, and Velankkanni in Tamil Nadu.As per the scheduled programme, the gauge conversion work in Palani – Pollachi- Palakkad section has to be finished on or before 31st March, 2013. The project had overrun time and cost!

At this juncture let me mention about a a direct rail corridor from Pollachi to Thrissur by-passing the busy Palakkad as well. This direct rail link, as a chord line between Pollachi will be availed if the pending Kollengode – Thrissur railway line becomes a reality. This short route will be useful for the faster movement of Containers between Tuticorin and Cochin Ports. Due to its proximity to the Western Ghats, Pollachi has cool climate in all seasons. South India’s biggest cattle market and Asia’s largest jaggery and vegetable markets are popular in Pollachi. In fact the central Kerala depends on Pollachi for Vegetable, kitchen provisions etc. The rail link between Thrissur and Pollachi will have blooming prospects for optimum utilisation of rolling stock and augmentation of traffic earnings. The decades’ pending project of Kollengode - Thrissur railway is not implemented for incomprehensible reasons!

The distance from Tiruchchi to Thrissur, Guruvayur or Ernakulam/Cochin ( via. Dindigul – Palani – Pollachi – Kollengode - Nenmara- Vadakkumcherry- Mannuthy - Thrissur/304 k.m) will be less by 69 k.m when compared with the present round-about Tiruchchi- Karur - Erode – Podanur- Palakkad – Ottapalam – Wadakkancherry – Thrissur (373 k.m) route.

In future, the Thrissur- Nenmara – Kollengode - Pollachi- Podanur B.G.sections (129 k.m), will serve as an alternative route to the busy Thrissur- Palakkad Jn. – Podanur Jn. (125 k.m) double-lined trunk section. Thus Southern Railways can treat this route through the valley of Nelliyampathy hills, lengthier by just 4 k.m as a ‘third line’ between Podanur and Thrissur, while it enables to skip the traffic saturated Palakkad Junction. Also, once the Guruvayur – Thirunavaya or Tanur railway line becomes reality, the Pollachi- Kollengode – Thrissur- Guruvayur – Tanur/Thrunavaya stretch will enable operation of trains between cities and pilgrim centers of central Tamil nadu and west-coast cities like Kozhikode, Kannur and places beyond like Mangalore, Goa, Mumbai etc. through Konkan line, bypassing the busy Palakkad - Shoranur stretch.

The Pollachi – Thrissur chord line ( instead of the round-about link through Palakkad) will be advantageous for the tourism development of Nelliyampathy (Kerala), Valparai ( T.N), Top Slip ( T.N) Hill stations.

Being a short distance of approx. 54 k.m, the Ministry of Railways can still incorporate the proposed Kollengode -Thrissur B.G line in the Railway Budget 2014-15 and simultaneously release adequate funds for the early implementation of the new line. The proposal to link Kollengode in the Pollachi- Palakkad section under B.G conversion, with Thrissur, the city of pooram festivals via. Nenmmara, Ayalur Road, Chittillamcherry, Mudappallur( For Mangalam Dam), Vadakkumcherry , Kuthiran, Pattikkad ( for Peechi Reservoir) and Mannuthy was neglected and kept in the cold storage for the past five  decades.

It is very noteworthy that the proposed Kollengode – Thrissur line passes through Nenmara, the gate-way of Nelliyampathy Hill- Station the upcoming tourist destination and an ideal out-door shooting location for movie makers.

             (The proposed Kollengode - Thrissur Railway shown in black lines)


The present Nenmara town is constituted by the erstwhile twin villages which are better known from the name of popular ‘vela’ festival- the Nenmara- Vallenghy Vela , held in the first week of April every year. This festival attracts people of Cochin- Malabar regions and Coimbatore - Pollachi – Tiruppur- Palani regions of neighboring Tamil Nadu. Even tourists from bigger cities like Chennai,Bangalore, Mumbai etc. including foreign tourists visiting Kerala during the months of March- April are enticed by travel industry to witness the spectacular festival which is rated at par with Thrissur Pooram. The said rail link between Kollengode and Thrissur will give a face-lift to the paddy-cultivation and trading centers covered under Chulliyar, Pothundy, Mangalam and Peechi irrigation projects. Cruise rides in Peechi and Pothundy reservoirs are popular. It will be an enchanting journey by a train that chugs through the beautiful countryside surrounded by thick lush of paddy fields, coconut – areca nut farms, rubber plantations and picturesque hills!

The Nelliyampathy hills with amazing varieties of flora and fauna, around 65 km from Palakkad and 45 k.m from Nenmara is situated at a height of 467 meters to 1572 meters at the highest peak. The Hill station is comprised of a chain of ridges separated by valleys of dense, evergreen virgin forests and orange plantations. There are more than a dozen hair-pin bends on the ghat road from Pothundy Dam passing through the jungles of Sahyadri ranges. Nelliyampathi’s forest regions are sanctified with wild animals like elephants, leopards, hill squirrels, bisons and a wide spectrum of bird life.

Nelliyampathy is also the perfect location for eco tourism and farm tourism. The sprawling tea gardens, coffee, cardamom and orange plantation add beauty to this destination at all seasons. Studies had revealed that a rich civilization existed in Nelliyampathy during Tamil Sangam era. Certain view-points en-route to the hill station  offer a splendid sight of the Palakkad Gap, which is a geographical phenomenon in the Western Ghats formation, showing the  extensive paddy fields of the Palakkad district and adjoining Coimbatore-Pollachi regions forming a verdant carpet.

Seethakundu waterfall with a height of 100 meters is an added attraction from where tourists can have a nice valley sight. Padagiri, the highest peak situated on Nellikotta mountain ranges is the trekkers’ paradise. Trekking is possible to reach Mampara as well for beautiful valley sight. Even Pollacchi and Valparai can be seen from there. Nenmara town and Pothundy reservoir can be seen from yet another view point – Kesavanpara. There are private operators offering Night-Safari to see wild animals, especially elephants; but must be beware of one fuming elephant roaming around to charge anything on its sight!

A Green Rail Corridor for Value Addition of Tourism in Nelliyampathy:

           
                                            ( A valley view  from Nelliyampathy)

Kerala, boasting with the tag of “God’s Own Country” could register a success story while offering resorts by the side of back-waters with facilities for cruise  boating, sail and stay in house-boats,  in-house Ayurveda health-centers in resorts etc. which are very much acclaimed by tourists from all continents. While it prudently gives thrust for Ayurveda and Back-water oriented tourism to woo maximum number of class tourists to the state, it is desirable to consider launch of a special campaigns- ‘Tea Garden Tourism” for locations like Munnar and Nelliyampathy. Campaign for  “Festival  Tourism” may be feasible for attracting tourists to exclusive colorful festivals wherein there will be elephants’ parade, traditional drum recitals and display of fire-works at Thrissur Pooram, Nenmmara-Vallanghy Vela etc.

Tourism campaign for Nenmmara- Vallanghy Vela festival can be clubbed with that of Nelliyampathy, the hill-station with tea gardens, orange farms and cardamom estates. Nenmmara is connected by road with Palakkad, the district headquarters through two or three routes with distances around 20 k.m. The town in the valley of the hill station is actually lying in the middle of Pollachi- Vadakkumcherry- Nenmmara -Thrissur Inter- State route merged with NH-47 at Vadakkumcherry. The distances by road from Nenmara to Pollachi towards east and to Thrissur towards west are 49 k.m each.

Pothundy Dam, just 6 k.m away from Nenmmara, which is constructed at the start off ‘Ayalur( Ayiloor) River’, a sub-tributary of Bharathapuzha is an ideal recreation location with gardens. Boat rides are offered in the vast reservoir to attract tourists. This dam is having a unique status as ‘second largest in Asia without using cement-mixture’. The Kerala government may have to plan for construction of adequate tourist resorts and budget motels at Nelliyampathy, Pothundy, Nenmara and Kollengode. There will be a good potential to install cable car service between the gardens in the Pothundy Dam to Nelliyampathy Hill station to boost tourism. The Kerala Tourism can avail the technology transfer from one of the best global companies for the same.

Though the Kollengode Railway station is the nearest rail-head for Nenmmara and Nelliyampathy, due to the proximity, it had not served the purpose much by the rail connectivity through  Kollengode, the Palakkad – Kollengode – Pollachi M.G Line, part of the M.G. network  in  Palakkad – Kollengode - Pollachi – Palani – Dindigul and Polachi – Podanur sections in the region. This branch line under B.G conversion has potential for linking with trunk routes at three junctions, viz. Palakkad, Podanur and Dindigul. The pending project, Kollengode – Thrissur Rail link enabling linkage between major trunk routes of Southern Railway at Dindigul and Thrissur, will enhance the potential for traffic earnings and optimum utilisation of rolling-stocks.

Ultimately the Kollengode- Thrissur line will add value to the tourism potential of Nelliyampathy Hill station. If implemented, Nelliyampathy will be easily accessible to foreign tourists landing at Cochin, Calicut or Coimbatore airports as they can reach the entryway of the hill station - Nenmara town by a train.

Tourists camping at Nelliyampathy can be brought down to the valley to see the spectacular show of elephants’ parade and colourful fire works displayed in the Nenmmara-Vallenghy Vela festival. Together with Nenmmara and Vallengy, many villages like Ayalur (Ayiloor), Chittillamcherry, Cheramangalam, Mudapallur, Vadakkumcherry, Pallavoor constitute an enclave of Vela- Kanyarkali festivals in the months of April-May every year. Kanyarkali festivals are performed in temple premises from desk to dawn and it provides all ingredients of folk-dance-dramas that can attract intellectuals to laymen amongst tourists. 

It is not an exaggeration to say that during the festival season, in this enclave of festivals in Palakkad district, not even a single day passes without celebrations involving processions by adorned elephants accompanied by drum recitals like Chendamelams, Panchavadyams etc. and colourful fire-works at least in a couple of temples.

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