Parambikulam - 100 year old forest tramway turns trekking trail
Parambikulam in Kerala - Tamilnadu border and part of the Anamalai hills in the Western Ghats is a nature lovers' dream come true. Though it is in Palakkad district of Kerala, it is accessible by regular roads only through Pollachi in Tamilnadu. Or the other option is the forest tracks from Chalakkudy, in Kerala. I visited Parambikulam almost 20 years back and all I could spent was a couple of hours. It was one of those quickie one day trips organised by my school to Parambikkulam and Valparai. It is now one more addition to my 'To do' list.
The latest issue of Outlook Traveller tells the story of a long forgotten (or unknown) story of the Cochin State Forest Tramway. Built in 1903, the 80 km meter guage line connected Parambikulam to Chalakkudy. The track passes through dense jungles and past 254 bridges and culverts. Parambikulam was a favourite destination of the renowned ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali. He had identified over 100 species of birds along the tramway. He infact spent his honeymoon at the tramway resthouse and named a species of bird he found there after his wife.
The tramway was discontinued sometime in the 1950s. The good news now is that the State Forest department has converted this into a trekking trail. This eco tourism venture integrates the tribals, who organises the trek along with the forest officials. There are three treks on offer. A short trek of 1 day, a medium trek of 2 days and a long trek of 3 days.
Till I get a chance to plan and do this trek, all I can do is to marvel at the pictures in the magazine, read the article again and day dream. For the detailed story, one needs to pick a copy of the magazine, since I do not find the article online.
(Text in italics suggests that most of it is borrowed from the magazine)
The latest issue of Outlook Traveller tells the story of a long forgotten (or unknown) story of the Cochin State Forest Tramway. Built in 1903, the 80 km meter guage line connected Parambikulam to Chalakkudy. The track passes through dense jungles and past 254 bridges and culverts. Parambikulam was a favourite destination of the renowned ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali. He had identified over 100 species of birds along the tramway. He infact spent his honeymoon at the tramway resthouse and named a species of bird he found there after his wife.
The tramway was discontinued sometime in the 1950s. The good news now is that the State Forest department has converted this into a trekking trail. This eco tourism venture integrates the tribals, who organises the trek along with the forest officials. There are three treks on offer. A short trek of 1 day, a medium trek of 2 days and a long trek of 3 days.
Till I get a chance to plan and do this trek, all I can do is to marvel at the pictures in the magazine, read the article again and day dream. For the detailed story, one needs to pick a copy of the magazine, since I do not find the article online.
(Text in italics suggests that most of it is borrowed from the magazine)
posted by Unny @ 10:26 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
At Tuesday, November 27, 2007,
jerome said…
Its nice to know that they are doing something to revive the old tramway nostalgia. I grew up in Chalakudy and during my childhood I have seen the tramway and their workshop. My father and uncle had travelled on the tramway to Parambikulam. Myself had written to Mathrubhumi letters to editor in 1973-75 and they had published my interest in reviving the tramway. I wish they bring back the real tramway.
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