If everything goes well, the chugging sound of a toy train will soon fill the air in the hilly station of Munnar. The train will be modelled on the monorail, Kundala Valley Light Railway, introduced by the Britishers long ago.
As part of the project, a preliminary study has been conducted by a team from Munnar to Top Station, the route of the monorail introduced nearly a century ago. The rail was washed away in the devastating floods of 1924 and portions of the rail could be seen decorating the entrance gate of some landmark buildings of the British era.
Heritage value
A wheel of the train is kept at the Kanan Devan Hills Plantation’s (KDHP) Tea Museum in Munnar. The top station of the monorail has now become the name of the place. The Kundala Valley Light Railway was for moving tea leaves and transportation of people but the new project is aimed at drawing tourists to Munnar.
The preliminary study has been led by KDHP official Ajoy and Idukki District Tourism Promotion Council secretary Jayan P. Vijayan. It is learnt that the KDHP has evinced interested in the project to be implemented in public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
S. Rajendran, MLA, says the primary study report would be submitted to Railways and their officials would conduct a feasibility study. The project would be implemented based on their report.
The monorail project would be implemented on the lines of Himalayan Mountain Railway.
The Tourism Department aims to revive a 5-km railway line in the first phase of the project. When the project would become a reality, tourism prospects would improve in Munnar, Mr. Rajendran adds.
Mr. Rajendran recalls that Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran has said the Tourism Department has included the monorail project as one of its top priorities on the list of tourism projects in the State. The KDHP had agreed to give land to the proposed project. After the feasibility study report, further steps will be taken, a Tourism Department official says.
