Kallai’s famed timber now lives as golden memories

KOZHIKODE: Kallai river is in the heart of Kozhikode. When one passes over the Kallai bridge, the fresh scent of grated timber reminds you of  Kozhikode’s history of  trade with Arabs and the west  centuries ago. 

The timber from Kallai was used even in the construction of  Buckingham Palace and for the fleet at Waterloo. During its heyday, Kallai timber industry was only second to Canadian.

Top quality timber was exported to  Europe, which suffered an acute shortage of timber due to World Wars.

Till the late 1970s, over 300 saw mills were operating on the banks of Kallai river  employing over  20,000 workers. 

The evergreen forests of Wayanad and Nilambur provided them  the raw material and Indian Railways brought wooden sleepers from  Kallai. 

So did the European and Arab businessmen to build and repair their wooden boats when they came to Beypore for trade.

However, stricter laws against deforestation and the government’s own interest in timber business through forest timber depots have killed the timber industry in Kallai.

Octogenarians and non-agenarians now idle on the banks of the river, ruminating on those days when  labourers  worked in three shifts and still could not meet the deadlines for the delivery of timber, how the timber industry in Kallai fuelled the development of  Calicut and how it actually played a part in Kerala having the most eco-friendly constructions during that era.

“It is all gone. Now a handful timber merchants are operating here. Getting the raw materials and transportation has been a problem. Now the load comes in trucks and the costs have escalated in comparison to  the age old river-rafting of woods,” Kunjumon, a local  resident said.