It has been a couple of months since the only toy train in the district, Cauvery Express at Raja Seat, stopped chugging.
Lack of political will among the city municipal council (CMC) members in repairing the train, has caused this.
Children who visited the floricultural exhibition at Raja Seat recently were left disappointed after they missed a chance to have a jolly ride in the toy train.
“The train offered a ride to children at a cost of Rs 20 per head and the revenue was collected by the city municipal council. However, the CMC, which is in charge of the maintenance of the train, has done precious little to restart the service even though there is a huge demand from the tourists who visit Raja Seat,” said locals.
The park where the train track is situated has now turned into a haven of miscreants as it lacks maintenance. College students chatting on the children’s railway platform is also a common scene here.
The park has lost its charm, after being dumped with all types of litter, including liquor bottles.
Other play equipment in the children’s park are gathering dust as no children have been visiting the park after the main attraction of the park — the toy train — stopped ferrying its ‘passengers’.
Lack of toilets in the park has made the situation even worse, not to speak of the mosquito infestation which is increasing day by day.
CMC members complain that there has been no use of raising the issue of the apathy in restarting the toy train during the special meeting of the CMC held recently.
CMC President Kaveramma Somanna said that the service of the toy train has been stopped as per the advice of the railway board officials, who after inspecting the train and tracks a few months ago concluded that the train is not in a condition to be operated.
“A proposal has been submitted by the CMC for procuring a new toy train,” she added.
The toy train which was introduced to Kodagu 25 years ago was initially installed near Golf Club on the outskirts of the city. As only a few visitors turned up, the track was shifted to Raja Seat. Since then, it has been a major attraction at Raja Seat, recalls Shamir, a resident of Indira Nagar.
A local vendor, Suresh, said that his business has been dull after the toy train stopped chugging.