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.
