THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: How long will it take to construct a tunnel of 10 ft diameter and 220 m length? Just 10 days.
Incredible it may sound, but the pipeline tunnel under the road at Kowdiar, starting off from near the Salvation Army headquarters and ending on the other side of the road, was built between October 5 and 14, 1931, so that the royal coach could pass along the road on October 15. It required 20,000 bricks from Thomas Stephen & Company and Harrison & Crossfield Company, both from Kollam, to construct the tunnel. Since the bricks could not be transported via water to the godown of these companies at Chackai, the option was rail.
This is just one among the many interesting facts scripted in the daybook (‘Naalvazhikurippukal’) of the Willingdon Water Works, which has been kept at the exhibition held in connection with the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Water Works at Water Works compound, Vellayambalam. The inspection notes written by the then Executive Engineer are about the progress at each stage of the project, which was designed to supply drinking water from Aruvikkara dam to the city.
It is a tragedy that the daybook has lost many pages. Though the project ran between 1928 to 1933, the inspection notes of the full period are not available. However, the good news is that the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) has decided to preserve the book on microfilm, said M. Abdul Kalam, Deputy Chief Engineer of the KWA, who is also the convener of the exhibition.
And this is indeed a happy news for a few people who’ve been instrumental in preserving the book, which now has over 500 pages left. Like C.R. Pankajaksha Kurup, who retired as Senior Superintendent from the KWA, and S. Mohanakumar, retired assistant engineer.
The book would have ended up in flames along with many other old records had not Mohanakumar seen it, many years ago. He had given it to Pankajaksha Kurup, who preserved it. ``I’ve gone through the full book. It is a rare document. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the name of the Executive Engineer who wrote down the notes. It is interesting to note that he has given details of not only the progress of work, but also of the different rituals, customs and traditions associated with the Travancore royal family,’’ said Kurup.
Regarding the construction of the tunnel at Kowdiar, the book says that it was only on October 4, 1931, that the officials got a message from the palace saying that the tunnel had to be constructed before October 15 for the royal coach to pass along. ``It is astonishing that the work was finished in just 10 days,’’ Kurup said.
The KWA has also chanced upon the project report and other documents connected with the project. These documents, which were with Kumaraswami Pillai, former Senior Supervisor, have been handed over to the KWA by his son K. Raveendran.
Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran will receive the documents officially at a function on Saturday. And these documents show that the total cost of the project was Rs 56 lakh.
It is also learnt that a group photo of all the labourers is also there. The inspection notes and other documents will make their way to the Water Museum which will come up at the Water Works compound.
The exhibition has a photograph showing the royal family’s meeting with the British officials in England, during the course of which the decision regarding the project was taken, Abdul Kalam said.
Nearly 90 percent of the pipes were brought from England and the rest were taken from Kolkata. There was no rail connectivity between Ernakulam and Kollam then.
``Since transporting the pipes via road was considered damaging, the pipes were unloaded at Tuticorin and were taken to Kollam via Arakkonam. From Kollam, they were taken to Thiruvananthapuram by attaching them to the shuttle train,’’ he said.
The pipes were kept at Valiyathura then and they travelled by road only from Valiyathura to Aruvikkara. The cranes were from Tirunelveli, the book says.