The premises of the old railway station behind the High Court, adjoining Mangalavanam, are now being cleared of tonnes of garbage on an order issued by the court last month.
The Kochi Corporation began the garbage clearing process on Saturday and expects at least 150 truckloads of waste in the next few days. For decades, waste has been dumped on the land alongside Mathai Manjooran Road, said Deepak Joy, councillor representing Ayyappankavu. Considering the land is spread out over a vast area and is not walled or fenced in most places, monitoring has been difficult, leaving it open to anti-social elements and waste dumping, he added.
The High Court in its order had asked for a committee to be formed comprising the Area Manager of the Railways, Secretary of the Kochi Corporation, councillor representing the area, and the health inspector concerned to ensure surveillance and inspection of the area to prevent further dumping of waste, besides installing surveillance cameras.
A tender had been invited to construct a wall around 60 to 70 acres, but had received no response, said Nithin Norbert, Ernakulam Area Manager, Southern Railway. Another will be invited soon.
Relics of the old railway station and railway quarters lie hidden in the midst of the dense undergrowth and vines, with broken awnings, crumbling walls, and gaping holes in the roofs. The roughly 104-km-long railway line between Shoranur and Ernakulam, the erstwhile Cochin State’s first, culminated here.
After discussions and deliberations over several years, construction of the line began in 1899 and took three years to complete, with the construction of bridges in some sections hitting hurdles. Goods and passenger trains began to ply on the line from 1902 onwards. It cost Raja Rama Varma XV, then ruler of the State, a princely sum of ₹70 lakh, nearly emptying the coffers.
Since the land lies in Mangalavanam’s buffer zone, a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order prevents any construction on the site, Mr. Norbert said.
The railways, which had been considering proposals to restore the buildings of the old station and turn it into a ‘heritage railway station’, has appealed to the Supreme Court against the NGT order.
