This
beautiful botanical paradise was first brought to the public eye
by John Sullivan, Collector of Coimbatore district in 1819. But
prior to this in 1812, the first Englishmen who were sent up the
Nilgris by the Collector of Coimbatore, were Mr. Keys, Assistant
Revenue Surveyor, and his Assistant, McMahon. They made their
way via Dananayakan Kottai to Aracad and the existing village
of Denad, and penetrated as far as Kallatti, the lower level of
North Ooty, but never set their eyes on the beautiful valley in
which Ooty lay. After Keys' visit there was no further expedition
until 1818 when J.C.Whish and N.W.Kindersly (Asst. and second
Asst. to the Collector of Coimbatore respectively) went up by
the Dananayakan Kottai-Denad route, crossed the plateau in a south-western
direction and descended by the Sundapatti pass from Manjakombai
to the Bhavani valley and then went back to Coimbatore. The purpose
of their visit is not known.
In March 1819, John Sullivan obtained Rs 1,100 (Rupees of those
days not to be compared with the present-day rupee) from the Board
of Revenue for laying a bridle path up the hill from Sirumugai
to Kotagiri and its neighboring village, Dhimatti. The work was
executed by McPherson in a period of 2 years starting 1821. This
was the only route to the Nilgris from Coimbatore until 1832,
when the first Coonoor ghat road was laid, thanks to the then
Governor, S.R. Lushington, who got the work executed by Lehardy
and Capt. Murray. The present metalled ghat road from Kallar to
Coonoor, a distance of 25 km which has 14 hair-pin bends and a
gradient of one 18 ft, which facilitated carriage traffic from
Madras to Ooty, was mainly constructed by Colonel G.V. Law in
1871. It is gratifying to note that the cascade of the Coonoor
river near Wenlock bridge on the Coonoor-Mettupalayam road named
after Law, continues to bear the same name.
The Coonoor-Mettupalayam road was extended to Udagamandalam, covering
a distance of about 15 km. The Kotagiri-Mettupalayam road (about
34 km long) which was 8 ft wide to begin with, was widened to
17 ft in 1872-75 with a gradient of one in 17 by the Dist. Engineer,
Major Morant R.E. and handed over to the District Board in 1881.
During the period from 1819 to 1830, John Sullivan's contribution
was, apart from laying the route to Ooty, that he built the first
house called Stone House in this place. This formed the nucleus
of Government offices. Further, at his own expense, he conducted
experiments on agricultural and horticultural crops and in animal
husbandry to find the most suitable crops and breeds of milch
animals for future settlers.Next to the magnificent task of laying
the road to Ooty, the British took up, around 1880, the stupendous
task of connecting Mettupalayam to Ooty by rail. A Swiss engineer,
M. Riggenback and Major Morant of Kotagiri road fame prepared
an estimate of 1,32,000 pounds (currency) for laying the rack
railway and floated a company called The Rigi Railway & Co Ltd.
Since capital was not forthcoming, Mr. Richard Wolley of Coonoor
came forward to advance money on the condition that the contract
would be entrusted to Mr. Wolley by the Government of Chennai.
The agreement between the 2 was signed in 1886, and the company
called The Nilgri Railway & Company came into being with a capital
of Rs 25 lakhs. The work on the line was started in August 1891
by Lord Wenlock, Governor or Madras, but the company was liquidated
in 1894. Later, a new company was formed in 1894, and the work
was completed in 1899. The line was worked by Madras Railway,
to start with. Though the Nilgris formed part of Coimbatore district,
it was separated into an independent district in 1868. For a period
of 13 years from 1830, it remained part of Malabar district. This
was to prevent tobacco smuggling from Coimbatore. From John Sullivan's
days to this date, more than 170 years have rolled by. Udagamandalam
considered a sanatorium and hill resort by the Europeans, has
come to be like any other district. The devastation was so much
that a ban on fresh construction was belatedly imposed by the
Government.
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