Thursday, October 15, turned out to be a red-letter day for Indian Railways as well as Pollachi, the agricultural town in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. Pollachi Railway Station, which was inaugurated on 15th October 1915, turned 100 and the celebrations began with gaiety.
It is a win-win situation for the residents of Pollachi and rail travellers. Pollachi is getting connected to Palakkad in Kerala, 54.72 km away through a high-speed broad gauge (BG) track built at a cost of `350 crore. It is also getting linked to the Konkan Railway as well as southern Kerala with the opening up of this BG for traffic. The Railway Safety Commissioner has issued clearance to the tracks to resume train services between Palakkad and Pollachi which was shut down for gauge conversion in December 2008.
For a person uninitiated to Pollachi, it may be a routine development news. But not for those who enjoy natural beauty. The Pollachi-Palakkad rail line has been laid through the foothills of the Western Ghats. The stretch offers a panoramic view of forests, wild animals, rivers, rivulets, waterfalls and different varieties of birds. “It was like a safari through jungle suburbs,” reminiscences Raju Doraisamy (80), about the days when the two towns were serviced by meter gauge trains. Doraisamy, a farmer residing in Coimbatore used to travel from his house to Pollachi just to enjoy the thrill of a train ride through the jungle.
Avid watchers of Tamil and Malayalam movies would not have missed the exotic Pollachi locations where the hero goes after the heroine begging for her love. Pollachi is an ever green garden lying along the foot hill of the western Ghats. “The vast stretches of paddy fields, coconut gardens, farms were fruits and vegetables are cultivated round the year are treat to the eyes,” said Jayakumar, an entrepreneur as well as travel bug. Pollachi is also the largest cattle market in the country frequented by traders from Kerala, AP and Karnataka for exotic breeds.
Raju Raphel, writer from Thrissur in Kerala unwinds himself by undertaking adventure trips in the Pollachi-Chalakudi and Pollachi-Palakkadu routes . “Both the stretches have lot to offer. I have seen leopards and wild buffaloes in the region. The Pollachi-Palakkadu route is a visual splendour,” said
Raphel, author of “The Bicycles of Amsterdam”. M K Gopinath, public relations officer, Southern Railway’s Palakkadu Division, said that Pollachi railway station integrates travellers, traders and pilgrims.
“The lord Muruga Temple at Palani, lord Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor, Ramaswamy temple at Rameswaram are networked by this route,” said Gopinath.