Century-old coal-fired steam loco back in action

OOTY: Reports that appeared in these columns in 2018 made good impacts to help the hill community. A report appeared on May18 in Deccan Chronicle on the delay in works related to modernization of the central bus stand here, as there was no progress after the announcement made in 2017 May by Chief Minister Edappadi K. PalaniswamI. Now, the works are underway.

Likewise, reports appeared in these columns on February 5, 2018, on the need to bring back the century-old coal-fired steam locomotive, the lone such surviving locomotive in the Nilgiris Mountain Railway (NMR) which was lying idle, to boost heritage tourism. This paid dividends as the railways brought it back for operation on Gandhi Jayanthi day in October 2018.

While the bloom of the rare and legendary ‘Kurinji’ flower was exceptional starting from July this year, taking cues from the reports that appeared in these columns on September 7, the Nilgiris district administration made efforts to organize the “Kurinji Festival” for the first time in the hills on the Kallhatti slopes in September.

In the wake of reports published in these columns on October 11, the state highways department finally woke up to sanction Rs 95 lakh to repair and restore the Kil-Nadugani sector of the Gudalur-Nilambur-Calicut road as this was severely damaged in late August and  and began to cave in during late September.