Proxy Wars: The Cochin State Forest Tramway

There is a saying in Malayalam Kattile Thadi Thevarude Aana which literally means forest’s timber temple’s elephant. The Indian forest was a bounty and the state offered dutiful and orderly manpower. The British wisely invested in local labor who is well accustomed with the forests and wild beasts. The Maharajas were more eager to make the British happy. Many tigers were hunted for making the forests safe. The land, after clearing the trees, was converted into plantations and human settlements. India was the brightest jewel in the royal crown. The British capital, Ceylonese land, and Indian labor transformed Sri Lanka as one of the largest tea exporter at the cost of its dense forests and timber resources.

Due to its unique geography Kerala was not on par with the rest of subcontinent in development and modernization. The majority of the land area was occupied by dense forests. The Maharaja of Cochin (1895-1914), Rama Varma, was very deeply fascinated about the advancement of industry and commerce. Through his vision several major projects were planned and executed. In 1862, when the Maharaja of Cochin discussed the extension of railway line from Shornur (part of the British Malabar) to Cochin with the British Resident, little he realized about the future course of events. The state treasury was not rich enough to raise the required fund. The records say that the Maharaja sold most of his valuables including 14 gold elephant caparisons that belonged to the family temple and other ornaments to fund the project. Construction began in 1899 and the first service started on 16th July 1902.

The Maharaja had ambitious plans for a modern port and rail connectivity to convert Cochin as a major industrial and trade hub. The reasoning and thought of the head of state is to get as much revenue as possible to drive the dream projects. The British looked at the largely untapped wealth like Teak, Rose Wood and other forest products that remained untouched in Western Ghats. In the next couple of years, the forest lands were leased to private individuals with no limits on cutting. The forest products and timber from Chalakudy to Parambikulam and Nelliyampathy ranges were destructively exploited in an unsystematic way. The abuse of forests continued thereafter till 1960’s and one by one forest tracts and its inhabitants started depleting.

Most of the timbers were century old, very wide and tall. Bringing such a huge load from the High Ranges to the sea port was not easy. The initial plan was to bring the timber through the rivers and thus reduce the use of expensive rails. Soon it was learned that the rivers do not have reliable and adequate amount of water to float the supply of logs throughout the year. The state treasury can become rich only when timber from forest is brought to the sea port. So it was decided to extend the rail line till the forests.

The British engineers started the construction of the tramway in 1901. The rail lines were laid from Chalakudy to the top of forests hills. The operation of the tramway started in 1907. The total length of tramway is 49.5 miles. There were double lines for a length of 6.5 miles. The average incline of the tramway is 1 in 80. The steepest point has an incline of 32 in 80. The steam engine fueled by firewood was not powerful enough to ascend the incline with the load of passengers and other materials. Hence a new method, using cables and pulleys, was used to raise the trucks using the gravitational power of timber going down along the other incline that was laid in parallel.

The colonial masters were concerned their objective was to extract all the wealth from their colonies,for which they utilized the latest tools available at that time. The tramway made Nilambur Teak (then known as Cochin Teak) extremely famous in London and western countries, that, within 3 years of its operation, Cochin Kingdom recovered the full cost.

To the outside world, forests of Chalakudy basin were synonymous with the tramway. It was also the Forest Headquarters of the Cochin State. The local people were not able to appreciate the hidden treasures within the forests. The total forest cover in Cochin during this period was about 50 thousand hectares. Even though the special finance committee recommended the abolition of the tramway in 1926, the government was reluctant to terminate this Engineering Marvel. For continuing the tramway operations, the nearby forests were exploited more intensively. This conceptual mistake had resulted in more serious damage to the forests. The introduction of roads through the Ghats during 1940’s diminished the unique role of tramway.

In 1950 a special evaluation committee concluded that the “Tramway is just a white elephant causing great loss of revenue for the state”. The tramway was discontinued. There were plans to utilize the tramway for tourism purpose. Three diesel locomotives (Benz engines) were brought from Germany for this purpose. But soon the ministry changed and this plan was shelved. Finally in 1963 the tramway was demolished.

The tramway route from Parambikulam dam to Poringalkuthu dam has been converted into jeep tracks. The jeeps with four wheel drives can be used to recreate the tramway experience. A miniature working model of the incline, used for demonstration to the Maharaja, is kept at the Government Museum, Thrissur. (Reference : Journal on the cochin state forest tramway, Devan R. Varma , David Churhill and Marc Reusser , 2005)

At that time the timbers and forest tigers were not considered as valuable commodities in revenue generation and development. Timbers were sold at prices far below the actual value. The tigers, that created a threat for encroachers, were systematically hunted or were wiped when their prey count reduced. The money from the forest auction was used in the modernization of port, construction of Wellington Island, new Roads and Bridges etc. The century old teak trees in many private properties were sold for meeting financial needs or constructing bungalows