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Muvattupuzha

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Muvattupuzha
Muvattupuzha
Moovattupuzha
big town
Map
Government
 • Municipal ChairmanMrs. Mary George Thottam
Population
 (2001)
 • Total
29,246
Websitewww.ekm.kerala.gov.in
The town where three rivers merge to form Muvattupuzha river.

Muvattupuzha (Template:Lang-ml) is a municipality in Ernakulam district in the Indian state of Kerala. The town is bordered by Kottayam district on southern side and Idukki district on eastern side approximately 15 km from the town.

History

Muvattupuzha was part of the Vadakkumkoor Kingdom until it was captured by the Travancore Kingdom, now merged into the state of Kerala. Old documents show that the lands of Muvattupuzha belonged to ‘Edappally Swaroopam’, but were later transferred to ‘Manas’ (Brahmin Families).[1]

St. Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus Christ, who introduced Christianity to India, is believed to have visited Muvattupuzha and converted several families to Christian faith. The St. Mary's Church of Arakuzha has a recorded history of over 1000 years, making it one of the oldest churches in Kerala. Muvattupuzha was also knowned as "Arakuzha Pakuthi(half of arakuzha)" It is known for its paintings and sculptures.

After Indian Independence, Muvattupuzha, as a village union, came under the control of a council of three members nominated by the Government. V. P. Govindan Nair was the first president of the village union. A. P. Makkar and Penthitta Gopalan Pillai were the other two members of the council. This council was short-lived. By 1953, Muvattupuzha was declared a Panchayat. Kunnappillil Varkey Vaidyan was the first president of the elected Panchayat Committee. Muvattupuzha was raised to the status of a Municipality in the year 1958. N. Parameshwaran Nair became the first Municipal Chairman. Muvattupuzha made history as the first Municipality where the Communist Party came to power in a general election.

N. P. Varghese was the first elected M.L.A. from Muvattupuzha Assembly Constituency. Later, K. M. George represented Muvattupuzha. The first M.P. of Muvattupuzha (Lok Sabha constituency) was George Thomas Kottukapally. Of all the Municipal Chairmen of the town, P. P. Esthose deserves special mention. He was simultaneously an MLA and the Municipal Chairman of Muvattupuzha. He got state-level recognition as the Chairman of Chamber of Chairmen. In its entire history, he is the only Communist member elected to the Parliament from the constituency.

Politics

The place falls under Muvattupuzha assembly constituency, which is part of Idukki (Lok Sabha constituency). It was part of Muvattupuzha (Lok Sabha constituency) until 2004.[2] The municipality is headed by the Municipal Chairman.

A Mini civil station for Muvattupuzha has been established in Vazhapilly east.

Demographics

Muvattupuzha residents practice Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. This region is a major Syrian Christian centre as well along with majority Hindus.

As of 2001 India census[3], Muvattupuzha had a population of 29,230. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Muvattupuzha has an average literacy rate of 84%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85%, and female literacy is 82%. In Muvattupuzha, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Geography

Rubber Trees in a Plantation

The town is located at 9.9670N, 76.5830E. It is situated on midland regions with planes and hills scattered all around especially on the Southern and Eastern side. Essentially, this region from Thodupuzha, Muvattupuzha, Kothamangalam were called "Keezhmalanad" [4] of erstwhile Vadakkumkoor Kingdom[5] indicating this as the midlands with Fertile soils deposited by the Thodupuzha river and Muvattupuzha river over a period of time due to floodings of the banks.

Muvattupuzha River

The town is named after the Muvattupuzha river (Muvattupuzha Aar) which flows through it. The name is made up of three Malayalam words: 'Moonu', which stands for 'three', 'aaru' - small river, and 'puzha', which also means river. 'Aaru' is a word that is usually used for rivers in the southern half of Kerala, while the term 'puzha' is used in the northern parts. The three rivers in this case are the Kothamangalam river or Kothayaar, Kaliyar and Thodupuzhayaar, which merge to form a single river. Thus it is called centre point of confluence of three rivers or Thriveni Sangamam in Malayalam. Muvattupuzha River was practically free from Pollution which slowly is changing due to the growth of small towns on the river's banks as well as industrial endeavours.

Muvattupuzha river (Template:Lang-ml) which starts and flows through Muvattupuzha town runs for 121 km. The major source of water is the Thodupuzha river which starts in the Idukki district and provides water throughout the year, enabled by the supply of water from Idukki arch dam. Idukki dam is the largest arch dam in India and it is used for hydro-electric power generation.[6] Muvattupuzha river is the prime victim of river pollution nowadays. Green People, people for socio-environmental works, an environmental organization is now leading a campaign to save the Muvattupuzha river.

File:Muvattupuzha.jpg
The Nirmala College in Muvattupuzha

Suburbs

The town consists of two regions separated by the Muvattupuzha bridge. Katcherithazham is the main centre of the town to the East of the Muvattupuzha bridge. Velloorkunnam, Vazhappilly and Kadathy are to the South West of the bridge. Kavumkara is a market which lies to the North East of the town after the bridge on the Muvattupuzha - Kothamangalam road.

The Thodupuzha bridge is over the Thodupuzha river,Which Also Flows through the South East portions of the town before merging with Muvattupuzha river near Kacherithazham.

Kizhakkekara and Randaattinkara (Randarkara or Randar) lies on the eastern part of the town on the banks of the Muvattupuzha river. After Thodupuzha bridge comes Adooparambu, Anikkad and Avoly. This area has a large pineapple cultivation and has pineapple based agro industries. Adooparambu is also known for its timber industries. Avoly is abutting Muvattupuzha municipality.

From the olden times, south of Marady (മാറാടി) panchayat towards Kottayam, was sparsely occupied and still has rubber plantations and a hilly terrain till Koothattukulam. Aaroor (ആറൂര്‍) was a forest until 5-6 decades ago. While every direction from Muvattupuzha is populated and almost urbanized, the southern direction towards Kottayam via MC Road is undeveloped.

The old Muvattupuzha bridge built over the Muvattupuzha river was the first concrete bridge in Asia. It was completed in 1914.[7] This serves as the connection between Nehru Park and Kacherithazham.

Pezhakkappilly, Vazhakulam and Kalloorkadu are three satellite towns of Muvattupuzha. The nearby panchayats are mostly into agriculture and small scale and medium scale industries. Pineapple and Rubber plantations are the common agrarian efforts. Match box industries, saw mills, paper, plastic and wood carton making are the main industries in this area. Towns like Kalloorkadu are culturally and educationally well advanced with standards comparable to the Western countries.

Nearby towns

The nearby towns are Kothamangalam, Thodupuzha, Piravom, Koothattukulam, Kalloorkadu and Kolenchery.

Neighbouring cities & towns

Culture

Muvattupuzha has a rich cultural tradition. Shatkala Govinda Marar - the Prodigy Saint who with his singing captured the mind of Thyagaraja Swamikal and Swathi Thirunal was born on the banks of the Muvattupuzha river. In the new era, the formation of Mela (Muvattupuzha Enlightened Lovers of Arts) - a registered fine arts society which was established in the year 1968 plays the lead role in the Cultural Sector in this town.

Famous personalities

  • K. M. George was a veteran Kerala politician. He was the founder of the Kerala Congress Party and former Muvattupuzha M. L. A. His son Francis George is former M. P. of Idukki.
  • P. C. Thomas is former Union Minister and M. P. of Muvattupuzha. He is the son of P.T. Chacko who was the former Home Minister of Kerala.
  • Fr. Varghese Palakkappillil was the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Destitute (SD). He had served as the parish priest of Arakuzha Church and had also purchased 12 acres of land in M.C.Road for constructing the famous Meenkunnam Church during his tenure in Arakuzha.[8]

Education

Colleges in Muvattupuzha are affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University of Kottayam.

The Nirmala Group of Institutions which includes Nirmala College, Nirmala Public School, Nirmala Higher Secondary School, Nirmala Junior School, Nirmala Sadan and Nirmala School of Nursing is run by the Syrian Catholic Diocese of Kothamangalam. Nirmala College, founded in 1953 by Mar Augustine Kandathil, is the oldest college in the town [9] [10]. Apart from the Nirmala institutions the Syrian Catholic Diocese of Kothamangalam also runs Vishwajyothi College of Engineering And Technology.[11]

K. M. Pareeth, A. E. Alikutty, the founders of Ilahiya trust, runs the first ever Engineering College of Muvattupuzha, Ilahia College of Engineering and Technology, besides other educational institutions like Ilahia Public School, Ilahia Arts and Science College and Kavaumkara LP School. Government Town U. P School is the oldest school in the town.

Health

Hospitals in Muvattupuzha include Muvattupuzha Medical Center MMC, Nirmala Medical Centre run by Franciscan Clarist Sisters under the Syrian Catholic Diocese of Kothamangalam.[12][13]It is a 355 bedded multi-specialty hospital. Specialties provided in this hospital are General Medicine & Surgery, Cardiology, Orthopaedics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Anaesthesiology, Ophthalmology, ENT, Dentistry, Neurology, Pulmonology, Urology, Dermatology, Radiology, Psychiatry, Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation, Ayurveda(Indian System of Medicine),Yoga, NAET Clinic etc. There is also a Govt. Hospital.

Future

Ernakulam and Muvattupuzha are culturally and geographically different as Muvattupuzha Taluka is Midland area with small hills, with agriculture and small scale industry as its primary economic base, while Ernakulam has some coastal regions for which fishing is an important industry. Muvattupuzha was an important commercial centre and a prominent town till about 1980. Later on the towns Thodupuzha and Kothamangalam outgrew Muvattupuzha. Two decades back a separate Muvattupuzha district was to be carved out of the districts Ernakulam, Idukki and Kottayam. It gained momentum, but subdued after some years.[citation needed]

Muvattupuzha plans to become a residential hub for Kakkanad as an IT Hub. Plans for a 4-lane Highway to connect to Kakkand is at anvil.[citation needed]

Infrastructure

Muvattupuzha is a part of Central Kerala. It lies between Thrissur and Kottayam on the Main Central Road (MC Road) which runs along the length of the old Travancore, from Thiruvananthapuram to Angamaly.

The first and second longest state highways of Kerala viz Main Central Road (Angamaly - Thiruvananthapuram / SH-01 / 240 km) and Main Eastern Highway (Muvattupuzha - Punalur / SH-08 / 154 km) meet here. Also, the Kochi - Madurai NH 49 passes through here.

Many important roads pass through Muvattupuzha.

The Muvattupuzha - Theni Highway (SH 43) starts at the Chali Bridge and goes through Randattinkara, Kotta Road, Udumbannoor, Nedumkandam and Cumbum before ending at Theni. This is a shorter route to Madurai in neighbouring Tamil Nadu [14].

Although the traffic is lesser than nearby towns , traffic-jams do occur as the MC Road passes through the centre of the town.[citation needed] A bypass has been planned from Kadathy to Puthuppady in NH 49 to avoid traffic from the Kochi - Madurai NH 49 highway which is also the route to Munnar, a popular hill station.[citation needed]

A Bypass to Thodupuzha Road and MC Road is planned from Kadathi on NH49 via the proposed new bridge at Murikkallu.[15] Later the road will join MC Road towards Kottayam at Marady.

Muvattupuzha-Kakkanad four lane highway project is at discussion levels. Proposed route is via Vazhappilly, Pattimattom, Kizhakkambalam, Infopark to Reach Vyttila Central Bus Terminal in 30 minutes which is 31 km.[16][17]

Chali bridge helps long distance travellers from being caught up in traffic, particularly during the rush hour. The bypass will pass through Kizhakkekara to Marady to link the SH-8 to Thodupuzha and to the MC Road.[citation needed]

Controversial Projects

The market built with EEC help is the poorly managed new project in Muvattupuzha, leading to heavy loss of money and other resources like farming land.

See also

References

  1. State Highway list
  2. Kerala PWD
  3. Statehighways in Yahoo Maps
  1. ^ http://www.muvattupuzha.com/religion.htm
  2. ^ "Assembly Constituencies - Corresponding Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies" (PDF). Kerala. Election Commission of India. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  3. ^ Template:GR
  4. ^ http://www.southdreamz.com/tourisum/kerala-cities/thodupuzha
  5. ^ http://idukki.nic.in/formation.htm
  6. ^ http://www.zonkerala.com/tourism/Idukki-6/
  7. ^ http://www.metrovaartha.com/2008/12/31142059/muvattupuzha-bridge.html
  8. ^ Fr. Varghese Palakkappillil
  9. ^ Nirmala College
  10. ^ Mar Augustine Kandathil
  11. ^ * Vishwajyothi College Of Engineering And Technology
  12. ^ Nirmala Medical Centre
  13. ^ Franciscan Clarist Sisters
  14. ^ http://www.metrovaartha.com/2009/01/09150145/MUVATTUPUZHATHENIROAD.html
  15. ^ http://www.mathrubhumi.com/localnews/story.php?id=151874&v_id=73
  16. ^ http://www.metrovaartha.com/2009/09/05092203/four-line-road.html
  17. ^ http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?s=01f8717204b946b43560c3c84e092206&p=4446928&postcount=3857

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