Fall of famed coach building factory in Kanyakumari

KANYAKUMARI: The government coach building factory at Ranithottam, near Nagercoil, was once renowned in the region for the durable fabrication of buses. Once, the pride of the state transport corporation, today it has shrunk to a mere maintenance depot. In its glorious days, the factory-built buses were in great demand across the state and Kerala, transport sources said.
K R Sukumaran, a retired government employee who has been studying the history of Kanyakumari district, said the coach building factory existed even when Kanyakumari was a part of Kerala. "During the regime of M G Ramachandran, the factory reached its zenith, building top-class bodies on bus chassis. The buses built in Ranithottam had good market in Kerala once," Sukumaran said. "However, the factory soon lost its government patronage. Gradually, the factory morphed into a maintenance depot," he stated.
M Lakshmanan, general secretary of the Transport Workers Union in Kanyakumari, said the quality of the coach building was due to the finest wood used in the Ranithottam. "The coach lasted almost for 15 years without much repair as teak was used for coach building. The present coaches built in private factories hardly last for a few years," he noted. The coaches constructed in Ranithottam were fit for hilly terrain, hence sought after by bus operators in Kerala till a few decades back. "Government is keen on promoting private coach building units than the government-owned factory," he quipped.
S R Sriram of Kanyakumari Consumer Protection Council said the quality of bus ride declined with poor coach building. "All my life, I have never seen so pathetic buses as is now seen on roads. Ranithottam factory should have been promoted in a big way," he remarked.