CHALAKUDY MUNICIPALITY AT A GLANCE

Name of Municipality             : Chalakudy

District                                : Thrissur

Taluk                                     : Chalakudy

11597. (in KM2)                       : 25.23 km sq

No. of wards                         : 36

Population                             : 49,525(as per 2011 census)

Male                                     : 23,744

Female                                 : 25,781

No. of Households                : 12,567

Density of population             : 1963 /sq km

SC Population                       : 3401

ST Population                      : 77

Male Female Ratio                : 1086

Literacy Rate                        : 97.03%

No. of BPL families               : 4014

No. of identified slum           : 1

Chalakudy is a municipal town situated on the banks of Chalakudy River in Thrissur District of the Kerala State in India.The name 'Chalakudy' might have come from two words, 'yagashala' (which means temporary settlement for conducting sacrifice) and 'kody' (which means flag). Once Chalakudy was famous all over India as a place for conducting sacrifice. Many rishis used to come over here as it was considered as a sacred land. In order to identity these settlements; they hoisted flags next to it. Thus those entire area got its name‘’yagashalakody”, this however evolved in to “shalakody” and finally in to today’s Chalakudy. Chalakudy was the head quarters of Kodassery nadu.Sakthan Thampuran the ruler of kingdom of Cochin formed Kodassery (Chalakudy) taluk in the 1790 by adding Kuzhurnadu, Ayyanezhinadu, Korattynadu, Malayattur, and Kanjur-chowara (now in Aluva taluk) to Kodassery nadu. According to Brahminical tradition, Chalakudy was part of Adur (Annamanada) grama and Potta in Chalakudy municipality was part of Irinjalakuda grama. There was also an old seminary at Sampalur (Ampzhakkad) on the banks of Chalakudy River. Chalakudy is a place of historical importance as its nearby places like Thazhekkad property of Mukundhapuram nadu was the base of operations of Mysore invader Tipu sultan during his attack on the Travancore lines. He kept the nearby places of Chalakudy as a southern army base for attacking Travancore and other southern province.  

Chalakudy municipality came into existence in the year 1970. The municipality covering an area of 25.23sqkmis divided into 36 electoral wards. The municipality has a total population of 45,069 with a density of 1786 per sqkm. Chalakudy is a Grade II municipality. Chalakudy is a Midland region. The Chalakudy river flows through the southern part of the town. The Kodakara, Kossery, Pariyaram, Meloor, Kallur, Vadakkummuri and Aloor grama panchayaths lie adjacent to Chalakkudy Municipality. Chalakkudy is at a distance of 35 km from Thrissur. The nearest airport is Nedumbassery, which is 22 km away.

• Chalakudy River: It has one of the highest fish diversities in Kerala. the river is known for its diversity, as it contains 85 species of fresh water fishes out of the 152 species known from Kerala. Among these, 35 are endemic species of the Western Ghats and nine are considered to be endangered.
• Divine Retreat Centre, Potta
• Athirappilly Water Falls: A waterfalls which attract thousands of tourists every year which is located in dense forest.
• Vazhachal Falls
• Sholayar Dam
• Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary
• Kodassery
• Dream World water theme park
• Silver Storm water theme park
•  Nanatty Bhagavathy Vishnumaya Temple
• Kannanpuzha Temple
• Sreedharamangalam Sreekrishna Temple
• St. Mary's Forane Church, Chalakudy: A church which has a history of more than 1400 years to tell. Its church bell on the bell tower was said to be imported from France almost 200 years ago as per the special request from the King of Kochi, who ruled that time.
• Kanakamala: A small hill nearby where there is a Roman Catholic Chapel. Devotees conduct Annual-procession to the hilltop in memory of Good Friday and pay offerings.
• Moonjeli Church, West Chalakudy
• Pisharikkal Bhagavathtei Temple - It is one of the 108 durgalayas
• Mulavallikav Devi Temple - Koratty - It is one of the 108 durgalayas
• Ezhattumugam water falls...
• Thumboormuzhi Dam....
• Malakkappara[6]
• KODHESWARAM MAHADHEVA TEMPLE,KODASSERY , NAYARAGADY (Festival- Malayalam month dhanu masa thiruvadira maholsavam)
• Sree Subrahmanya Temple, Koodapuzha Festival-kaavadiyaattom-in the month of January, every year is a colorful celebration)

Land and land-use pattern

According to agricultural statistics for 2009-10, the data on land use pattern of the District reveals

that forest occupies around 34.2 per cent. The pressure for non-agricultural use is increasing. The land

under non-agricultural use has increased to 12.12 per cent in 2009-10 from 11.27 per cent in 2000-01. The net cropped area was 1271.85 sq.km and the area under current fallow (131.39 sq.km), fallow other than 26 current fallow (63.64 sq.km) and cultivable waste 6766 sq.km. The composition of the geographical area classification is given below.

Irrigation

Optimum utilization of the water resources through appropriate conservation and management measures assumes critical importance in sustaining the life support systems. The demand for water is mainly for domestic, agriculture, prevention of salt water intrusion and for the generation of electricity.Besides the conventional sources of irrigation like tanks and wells and private canals, the district has five major irrigation schemes namely Peechi, Chalakudy, Vazhani, Chimmoni-Mupli and Cheerakuzhy projects.

Industry

Industrial development is a major factor in accelerating the growth of the economy. There are 68 large and medium scale industrial units in the district at present. The important among them are Sitaram Textiles Ltd. at Thrissur, Alagappa Textiles at Alagappanagar, Vanaja Textiles Ltd. at Kurchikara, Keltron Power Devices Ltd. at Mulamkunnathukavu, Appolo Tyres Ltd. at Perambra, Kodakara; Chalakudy Refractories Ltd. at Chalakudy, Kerala Solvent Extractions Ltd. at Irinjalakuda and Eddy Current Controls (India) Ltd. At Chalakudy, Kerala Chemicals and Proteins, Koratty, Microwave Products (India) Ltd., Puthenchira, Wood House Ltd., East Koraty, Steel and Industrial Forgings Ltd., Athani, Kerala Lakshmi Mills at Pullazhi, Rajagopal Textiles Ltd. at Athani, Jyothi Laborataries Pharmaceutical Co-operation at Kuttanellur, SDF Industries, Thrissur Cooperative Spinning Mill, etc.

Transport

            Thrissur District is well connected with almost all the major towns and cities of India. The district is covered by a network of National Highways, District roads and Village roads. The National Highway NH-47 in Thrissur District consists of the following two roads. Thrissur and Chalakudy road starts from Thrissur town and goes southward to the district limit at Anchal and enters Ernakulam district via Angamali enroute to Thiruvananthapuram.

Electricity and Power

            Peringalkuth and Sholayur are the two major hydroelectric projects of the district. The Peringalkuth project across the Chalakudy River has a storage capacity of 33.98 million cubic metres. The total installed capacity is 280.32 million KWh. Sholayur is connected with Chalakudy sub-station by the 110 KV transmission lines

Water Supply

Intensive efforts have been made for providing drinking water to the urban dwellers. As a result, several water supply and augmentation schemes were started. An average rated water supply system has been provided. The water supply schemes cover 70% of the urban population. The main source of water supply is from the Kerala Water Authority

Sanitation and Sewerage

There is no sewerage network in the town. In the absence of sewerage system, septic tanks are the

major form of sanitation for the domestic sewage. There are latrine facilities available for most of the households in Chalakudy town. Latrines of lower strata of the community are not connected to septic tank but to pits. Many of the latrines are unscientific and pollution prone including a number of deep pit latrines which might pollute ground water. The sullage generated from kitchen and bathrooms etc, is let out into the open mostly through storm drains. The waste water is disposed without any treatment. There is no facility of septage management too. When pits are filled up, removed and dumped in pits made nearby and filled up. Mechanical suction of human excreta and transporting to faraway places and unloading where ever possible is also observed. In slums, toilets are connected to pits. Hence construction of septic tank is necessary.

Sewerage

Chalakudy municipality like all other municipalities in the state of Kerala does not have an operational sewerage network and sewage is disposed on the basis of alternative technologies. It is not economical or affordable for a comprehensive sewerage treatment plant for the municipal area. Moreover land acquisition within the Municipality also poses challenges for sewerage system. It is suggested that decentralised sewage treatment plants are more suitable to Kerala contest.

Solid Waste Management

The responsibility of solid waste management (SWM) rests with ULBs. SWM is an obligatory function of local bodies. However, the services provided by the municipal authorities are outdated and not

effective. Domestic, commercial, biomedical and variety of toxic and domestic hazardous wastes are generally disposed off by the citizens on the streets, drains, open spaces, water bodies, etc., causing serious problems of health and environment. Problems of solid waste management are growing with rapid urbanisation and change in the lifestyle of the people. Lack of political will, inadequate financial resources, institutional weakness, improper choice of technology and public apathy towards solid waste management have made this service far from satisfactory.

 Population and its growth pattern

As of 2011 census, Chalakudy had a population of 49525 in 12567 houses. The children (0-6 age)

population of Chalakudy UA is around 9.24 % of total Chalakudy UA population which is lower than national urban average of 10.93 %. Total children in Chalakudy were 4574. The total population for Chalakudy Municipality for the years 1991, 2001& 2011 are shown in Table No 2.1 and decadal population of town from 1901 to 2001 is shown in fig 2.1.

Table 2.1Population as per census

Graph 2.1 The decadal population of the town for the last three decades

2.2 Sex retio

The sex ratio of female to male in Chalakudy UA was found higher with figure of 1079 females against national urban average of 926 females per 1000 males. For children (0-6 age), girls were 948 per 1000 boys in Chalakudy urban region against national average of 902 girls per 1000 boys.

Ward wise population in Chalakudy (2011 census)