TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT IN KERALA 47 12 Logan writes ^Before the extention of the line to Calicut it was a mistake for the railway to stop at Beypore, which was only an insignificant fishing village and the line should have been brought into Calicut, the head quarters of the district, only 7 miles distant from the terminus. The traffic on the line showed no tendency to expand, nor was it likely to be the case till a more suitable station was obtained." William Logan, Malabar, Vol I Superintendent Govt Press, Madras, 1906, p 67. is Ibid., p 67 14 A Sreedhara Menon, History of Kerala (Malayalam) 1973, National Book Stall, pp 425-426. 15 C Achutha Menon, Cochin State Manual, The Superintendent Government Press, Ernakulam, 1911, p 162. 16 C Achutha Menon, author of the Cochin Manual writes in this connection ^when one fine morning 12 bullock carts laden with goods from Coimbatore arrived at Trichur, where most people had not seen such a conveyance before, there was by all accounts more excitement in the place than when the railway train first passed through it 58 years later". Cochin State Manual, op cit., p 165. 17 TK Velu Pillai, Travancore State Manual Vol. II?, The Superintendent of Government Press, Trivandrum, 1940, p 18. 18 The Value of external trade more than doubled from Rs. 25 lakhs in 1854-55 to 51 lakhs in 1861-62 and further to Rs 118 lakhs by 1970-71. Ibid., p 123. 19 The magnitude of migration to the High Ranges may be understood from the following table. PERCENTAGE VARIATION OF POPULATION IN TRAVANCORE, BY REGION Division 1881-1891 1891-1901 1901-1911 1911-21 1921-31 S. Division 3.1 15.7 17.5 170 24.0 Central 9.7 12.8 15.3 17.0 252 Northern 5.0 17.6 14.9 15.5 299 High Range 136.2 46.8 85.7 420 84.9 Lowland 5.2 14.3 13.2 15.0 24.2 Midland 7.5 15.9 18.2 17.4 27.5 Highland 132 24.4 30.4 32.2 54.8 source: Census of India 1931, Travancore, Part I, p 20. 20 Census of India, 1941, XXV, Travancore, Part I, pp 6-7. 21 T K Velu Pillai, Travancore State Manual op.cit. 22 For some of the developments of this period, see P R G Nair, ^Education and Socio-Economic Change in Kerala (1793-1947)", Social Scientist, Number 44, pp 30-31. 23 Upto 1921 there were only 152 motor vehicles in Travancore. Their number suddenly rose to 1667 by 1931. This phenomenal growth in automobiles had caused concern to the government. The depression committee traced all the ills of the state to the "indulgence in this exotic luxury". 24 Number of automobiles dwindled from 1667 in 1931 to 1274 by 1937. 25 T K V Pillai, Travancore State Manuel, op cit, p 495. 2® Ibid., p 496. 27 According to the regional Transport Survey by the NCAER the expenditure by transport users in Kerala for the year 1965 is as follows. Railway : 21.4 percent Road Transport : 72.5 percent Inland - Waterways : 5.2 percent Air-lines : 0.9 percent See Regional Transport Survey of Kerala NCAER, 1969, p 23.