It has been 163 years since Henry Valentine Conolly, the former Collector of Malabar, was killed by religious extremists. The recent floods that ravaged the State has helped highlight the importance of developmental initiatives taken by the British officer.
On Tuesday, the city that benefited a lot from Conolly gathered to acknowledge his contributions.
Conolly was the Collector of Malabar for 15 years in the mid-19th century. He was instrumental in the construction of a canal along the coastal belt of Malabar for transportation. The canal that later came to be known as the Conolly Canal has played a major role in striking an environmental balance in the region.
“The 242 acres of wetland and the Sarovaram Biopark within it are by-products of the Conolly Canal,” said environmentalist Selu Raj, who opened the Conolly commemoration meet organised by the Paristhithi Samarakshana Samithi in Kozhikode on Tuesday. He highlighted the rich biodiversity protected by the biopark and the canal in the heart of the city.
Teak plantation
Another major contribution by Conolly is the 1,500 acres of teak plantation at Nilambur in Malappuram district. The plantation located at the juncture of three rivers later came to be known as ‘Conolly’s Plot’ and is a major tourist attraction and storehouse of the best golden teak at present. The plantation was set up to supply timber to the shipbuilding industry in Mumbai that faced a scarcity of good quality teak in 1840.
“It took Conolly and his forest conservator Chandu Menon 10 years to plant 117 teak saplings all by themselves,” said Mr. Selu Raj. The plantation now houses the largest teak tree in the world.
“Conolly had tried to emancipate Dalits much before the Vaikom Satyagraham,” he said. The officer had constructed a road and had forced Dalits to use it at a time when they were shunned to the background by upper castes. He was the one to issue the order to stop slave trade in Malabar in 1843 and had taken active interest in the education of their children. The freed slaves were offered reservation in government jobs.
Conolly was also instrumental in converting the shops on S.M. Street from hay-thatched huts to tile-roofed buildings. This was done to protect the city from frequent fires.
Paristhithi Samarakshana Samithi chairman P.K. Sasidharan presided over the session.
