Early days of Neyveli

When I was 7 years old and while spending the summer vacation at Grand Parent’s house in Thanjavur my mother made the announcement at the dining table- “We are moving to Neyveli”. My father a civil engineer   had earlier served as Municipal Engineer at various locations in Tamil Nadu. Transfers were frequent and I was just thinking about the new school I would be going to in Neyveli.

When we moved into Neyveli in April 1957 to a small house with Asbestos roof in the Mandarakuppam colony it was a different experience for me .As a young boy I had earlier seen towns like Cuddalore, Dindigul and Karaikudi with my father’s frequent transfers.  Neyveli was  different . It was just a village but with clean and neat new houses.  The nearest towns were Cuddalore to the east and Vridhachallam to the West. The Project was in the initial stages. Only the Pilot Quarry  to determine the area and quantity of  lignite to be mined had been completed. There were about  30 Engineers for the Project who lived in those asbestos roof houses. Shortly thereafter, new spacious houses were built  on the Northern side of the Cuddalore-Vridhachallam Main Road. It was called the Mandarakuppam officer’s colony. Soon we moved into a two bedroom house in the new Officer’s colony with ample garden space. I spent some of my wonderful childhood days at this colony. Every week a new family would move in. We would extend whatever help we could to settle them in their new house. More families would mean more friends. There were plenty of open grounds and we had ample space to play.  Exploring new areas was one of my favourite past time. I remember the days we have ran back home after spotting snakes.

              

Author with his brother and sisters in front of the house in Neyveli (1957)

The project in the initial stage was managed my Mr. G. Srinivasan who was designated as the General Superintendent, affectionately referred to as “GS”. His movements could be visible to anyone in town as he moved about in his spotlessly clean red coloured jeep with cream coloured wheels. He knew every family in town and was a father figure.  He would even know the children’s names. He lived in a large bungalow on the northern side of the colony. The first CMD, Mr. T.M.S. Mani then operated from Chennai. I remember the day when Mr. Srinivasan took all the families to Grand Anicut (near Trichy) for a picnic.

As the officer’s colony started growing, more families moved in. We had new friends. The Ladies club was inaugurated. The Men’s club was formed and Tennis courts were laid. The NLC Management opened the first Cooperative Stores. It used to be a meeting ground for many families in the evening. Before the store was opened, there were only two reliable stores at Neyveli on the Main Road.

Everything I saw around was new. New houses, new jeeps, new lorries, sophisticated mining machineries. Neyveli was growing day by day. By late fifties work started full scale on the Thermal Power station and Mine I which was supposed to feed the Thermal station with lignite. Travelling to Chennai used to be a nightmare for some of the families who had roots in Chennai (then Madras). There were no good train connections or bus facilities. Whenever a Project lorry left for Chennai to collect materials a few families would hop on to the lorry which would have temporary tarpaulin cover and a few benches for people to be seated. I remember making such a trip in the lorry with my family to attend a wedding in Chennai.

Lignite mining had its own problem. The water under lignite had to be pumped out before mining the lignite as otherwise the mine could get flooded overnight. Before large scale mining started the water pressure was high in Neyveli and surrounding areas that one could see lot of Artesian wells. The wells surrounded by green paddy fields was a treat to the sight. These wells were favourite picnic spots for the families. On weekends we would pack our evening snacks drive down to these lovely spots and play in the water.

One day father took us to a spot close to the new Thermal station which was under construction. Bull Dozers were razing down Cashew forests. He then said that the site was being prepared for the new Township to build more houses. I asked a very honest but logical question. “Why are they building it so far away from our colony?” His reply shook me. He said the officers’ colony would disappear as it was only a temporary colony. He said the colony was sitting on lignite mining area and would disappear the day they start mining that area. But he said it might take some 50 years.

I could not believe what he said. How can anyone destroy my beautiful little town? The drive back home that evening was painful to me. I could not come to terms with what my father had said.

The new township grew rapidly. New schools came up and also the first High School. My elder sister was in the first batch of SSLC students to pass out from the N.L.C. High school in the year 1960. The High School was then not eligible as an Examination centre and she had to travel with all her classmates to the nearby Kurinjipadi School to write her final exam.

In the year 1963 my father became the Township Administrator of Neyveli Township. We left our little colony and moved into township. I passed out from the High School in the year 1966 and then went to College in Chennai. Although father served in Neyveli until 1978 my visits to Neyveli were less frequent as I began my career. But on every trip to Neyveli I would go down to Mandarakuppam Officer’s colony and spend time looking at the lanes and roads where as a young boy I had spent such wonderful time with my friends.

Recently I was driving down to Pondicherry with an old friend who had grown up with me at Neyveli. We decided to spend some time at Neyveli and see the houses we had lived as young school boys. On our way out from Neyveli township I insisted on my friend to drive through the old Mandarakuppam colony. I wish I had not made that request. The colony looked abandoned. Most of the houses had been broken down. The house we lived in was found demolished. Indeed what my father had said had come true in exactly the same years he had predicted – 50 years!

The house the author lived in now lies demolished

 I returned with mixed feeling. I remembered all the wonderful days of my early childhood at Neyveli. My school, the play grounds, the picnics , the Deepavali celebrations that all families would jointly celebrate , the trip Mr. Srinivasan arranged for the colony to Kallanai and the wonderful friends . Looking back, those were some of the most precious moments of my life.

ratnakarpaul@gmail.com

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