Recalling Pykara’s ‘Power Connection’ to Kovai

Thirumoorthy

 

People of the present day generation hardly come across a bus stop by name ‘Pykara bus stop’ and an office called ‘Pykara Office’ in Coimbatore.  But the names, which once stood for a bus stop at Tatabadh and the present day TNEB office or ‘Power House’ respectively, were in use in the early 1930s when houses in the city had no electricity connection. Coimbatoreans used these names, since the TNEB Office was the main load centre for the Pykara Hydro Project that facilitated the industrial developments in the city.

River Pykara

 

Throwing light on this and various other aspects on the role of  Pykara Hydro Project in the development of Coimbatore, A.D. Thirumurthy, a retired Superintendent Engineer from Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, said

“Koniamman may be the sentinel Deity of Coimbatore. But River Pykara is the ‘Deity’ of Kovai’s development, without which, the city could not have been praised as the Manchester of South”

Dr. T. Elangovan

C.R.Elangovan

Thirumurthy was speaking on the role of Pykara Hydro Project to the development of Coimbatore on Thursday evening in a symposium organized as part of the ongoing Coimbatore Vizha – 2014.

Pointing out the heavy increase in the rate of electricity consumption these days in Tamil Nadu, he informed:

“The Pykara Hydro Project was launched to generate just 7 Megawatts of electricity in the early 1930s, while the state now requires 12000 Megawatts of power”

Tracing the major cause for the damage in the ozone layer as carbon emission, Thirumurthy noted that the maximum emission of carbon is from thermal power stations, from which much of the power is generated today. 

“When the consumption of electricity is economic at homes, a total of 50 % power shortage can be solved. He also added that the excessive power consumption at homes is due to having powerful LED TV sets and air conditioning of rooms” he noted.

Advising the audience to make use of solar energy for power, he cited examples of how the alternate methods of power generation are being used in largely populated countries like China.

The symposium also included speeches by Prof. T.  Elangovan, Retired Head, Department of History, Government Arts College, Coimbatore, on the origins of the Indian Armed Forces in Coimbatore.

Elangovan, who was an NCC Officer for many years in his service as a professor of the college, said:

“Coimbatore, with its salubrious climate, is a suitable place for academic studies in Defence. Hence, the Air force Administrative College was set up here in 1957. It has, so far, produced around 1 lakh administrative officers in the Air wing”

Historian C.R. Elangovan, who spoke on the efforts taken by the yesteryear personalities of Coimbatore in bringing the Siruvani water to the city, said:

“The idea of bringing Siruvani water to Coimbatore was first mooted by S.P. Narasimhalu Naidu, a writer, journalist and social worker. He went to the thick forests of Siruvani on a bullock cart and trekked about eight miles on the rough terrains of the mountains in 1889 to reach the Muthikulam spring, where the sweet Siruvani water originates”

Link to my report in The New Indian Express : http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/2343342