Alappuzha also known as Alleppey, is a landmark between the broad Arabian sea and a web of rivers flowing into it. It is a town in Alappuzha District of Kerala state of southern India.
In the early first decade of the 20th century the then Viceroy of the Indian Empire, Lord Curzon made a visit in the State to Alleppey, now Alappuzha. Fascinated by the Scenic beauty of the place, in joy and amazement, he said,
In the 17th century the Portuguese power declined and the Dutch had a predominant position in the principalities of this district. They built so many factories and warehouses in various places of it for storing pepper, ginger because of the fact that several treaties were signed between the Dutch and the Rajas of Purakkad, Kayamkulam and Karappuram. In course of time they also derived in the political and cultural affairs of the district. At that time Maharaja Marthanda Varma, who was the 'Maker of modern Travancore' intervened in the political affairs of those princedoms. In the 19th century the district arrived at progress in all spheres. One of the five subordinate courts opened in the state in connection with the reorganization of the judicial system by Colonel George Monro. This was located at Mavelikkara. The first post office and first telegraph office in the former Travancore state was established in this district. The first manufacturing factory for the coir mats was also established here in 1859. In 1894 the town Improvement Committee was set up.
The history of Alappuzha District also murmurs the facts of the prominent role that the district played in the freedom struggle of the country. The historic struggles of Punnapra and Vayalar in 1946 constrained the attitude of the people against Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, who was Dewan of Travancore. And this ultimately led to his exit from the political scene of Travancore. A popular Ministry was formed in Travancore on 24 March 1948 after India`s independence, and on 1 July 1949 Travancore and Cochin states were integrated. The position continued till the formation of Kerala State on 1 November 1956 as per the States Reorganization Act 1956. The district came into existence as a separate administrative unit on 1 August 1957.
[edit]Geography and Climate
Alleppey or allapuzha is located at 9.54°N 76.40°E..The average elevation is 1 metre (3.3 ft) Alleppey covers an area of 1,414 square kilometres (546 sq mi) and is flanked by 2,195 square kilometres (847 sq mi) of Vembanad Lake, where one can witness the magnificent union of six major rivers which spread out extensively before joining the 80 km coast line of the district. The town of Alleppey is crisscrossed by a system of canals, which is a part of the National Waterway 3 (India).
The district is a sandy strip of land intercepted by lagoons, rivers and canals. There are no mountains or hills in the district except some scattered hillocks lying between Bharanikkavu and Chengannur blocks in the eastern portion of the district. There are no forest area in this district.
Alleppey is gifted with immense natural beauty with the Arabian sea on its west. The city has a vast network of lakes, lagoons and fresh water rivers. Due to their closeness to the sea it has developed an unparalleled destination in the maritime map of India.The richness of the coastal Alleppey waters is expressed annually in the blooming and consequent deposit of a huge quantity of fishes and prawns on the Alleppey coast called ‘Chakara’. This annual shifting of sandbank appears during the post-monsoon period and contributes to the local economy and is a festive season for the people of Kerala. The annual floods rejuvenate and cleanse the soil and water due to which there is abundance of marine life like prawns, lobsters, fishes, turtles,and other flora in the sea. The backwaters and Wetlands host thousands of migrant common teal, ducks and cormorants every year who reach here from long distances. One of the major feature of this land is the region called Kuttanad, the 'granary of Kerala'. Kuttanad is also known as the rice bowl of Kerala and is one of the few places in the world where farming is done below sea level. The paddy fields lie about 0.6 to 2 m below mean sea level.
Owing to its proximity to the sea, the climate of Alleppey is humid and hot during the summer. Although the place remains fairly cool and pleasant during the months of October and November.The average monthly temperature is 25C. The district also gets the benefit of two outstanding monsoons as in the case of other parts of the state.Alappuzha city experiences a long monsoon season with heavy showers as both the Southwest monsoon and Northeast monsoon influences the weather of Alleppey. The South-west monsoon affects the climate in between the months from June to September. On the other hand the North-east monsoon rings rain from October to November. The average rainfall received by the region is 2763 mm.
| [hide]Climate data for Alleppey | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 32 (90) | 32 (90) | 33 (91) | 32 (90) | 30 (86) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 31 (88) | 32 (90) | 33 (91) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 31 (88) | 31 (88) | 31 (88) | 28 (82) | 28 (82) | 28 (82) | 28 (82) | 29 (84) | 30 (86) | 30 (86) | 30 (86) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 23 (73) | 25 (77) | 26 (79) | 26 (79) | 26 (79) | 25 (77) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 23 (73) | 25 (77) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 23 (73) | 24 (75) | 26 (79) | 26 (79) | 26 (79) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 23 (73) | 24 (75) | 23 (73) | 23 (73) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 17.3 (0.681) | 17.6 (0.693) | 18.9 (0.744) | 70.21 (2.7642) | 184.2 (7.252) | 484.2 (19.063) | 352.7 (13.886) | ||||||
| 274.1 (10.791) |
| 190.6 (7.504) |
| 282.7 (11.13) |
| 105.1 (4.138) |
| 29.7 (1.169) |
| 2,072.25 (81.5846) |
| Source: [17] |
[edit]Demographics
According to 2011 census, Alleppey district has a population of 21,21,943 with 10,10,252 men and 11,11,691 women with a population density of 1492 persons per km2. There are 1,86,022 persons under six years of age in Alleppey district. The literacy rate of Alleppey stands at 96.26% out of which 8,95,476 are males and 9,68,082 are females. Alleppey has a decadal population growth of 0.61%. Alleppey has a sex ratio of 1100 and the urban agglomeration had a population of 282,675 in 2001.
The population is predominantly Hindu and Christian,and there are sizable numbers of Muslims present in smaller numbers. The most widely spoken language is Malayalam,though there are also significantly large numbers of people speaking Tamil, and Konkani.
The standard dialect of Malayalam spoken is Central Travancore dialect. Konkani is a language that is spoken in the Konkanregion.In the late 18th century many konkanis migrated southwards to Thuravoor and Alleppey in the state of Travancore, majority of these people settled in Alleppey.
[]Economy
The economy of the district is predominantly based on agriculture and marine products. Though the district is industrially backward, some traditional industries based on coir and coir products, marine products,handlooms, different types of handicrafts, toddy tapping, have been dominating the scene from the very early times. The district is known as the traditional home of coir industry in Kerala.
The availability of plenty of raw materials and existence of backwaters and canals suitable for the getting of green husk and accessibility of transportation are the main factors of the development of this industry. Arabs had carried on trade of coir products from very ancient period. The manufacture of mats and mattings was first introduced in 1859 by Mr. James Durragh.
The Coir Board was established by the Central Government under the provisions of the Coir Industry Act, 1955.There is a Coir Research Institute functioning at The National Coir Training and Designing Centre was also established at Alappuzha in 1965.
Coir is the most important commodity manufactured in Alappuzha, Kayamkulam, Kokkothamangalam, Komalapuram, Mannancherry,Muhamma and Vayalar,Coir products in Cherthala and Mannancherry, Lime shell in Arookutty and Kodamthuruth, Plywood inChengannur, Keltron controls in Aroor, Potassium Chloride in Mavelikkara and coconut in Thanneermukkom. The other important commodities manufactured in these towns are copra, coconut oil, glass, mats and matches.
[edit]Transport
The district can be accessible through air, rail, road and water. Cochin International Airport which is 86 kilometres (53 mi) to the North is the nearest airport to the district.Thiruvananthapuram International Airport located 159 kilometres (99 mi) to the South is the other airport that links the district with other countries. International tourists utilize this facility to reach Alappuzha.
One major rail line passes through Alappuzha. The railway station is about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) away from the center of the town.Alappuzha Railway Station is linked by rail to cities likeTrivandrum, Cochin, Chennai, Bokaro and Mumbai. A total of four trains originate from Alleppey to Cities like Kannur, Chennai, Dhanbad, and Tatanagar. Since Alleppey is a prime location many trains to important cities like Banglore, Manglore, Calicut, Amritsar passes through this station.
Alappuzha is also well connected by road .National Highway NH 47 passes through the city connecting the city to other major cities like Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kollam , and Trivandrum.
[edit]Administration and Politics
| Alleppey Town officials | |
|---|---|
| Municipal Chairman | Smt.Mercy Teacher[37] |
| Superintendent of Police | Mr.E.Divakaran[38] |
The two administrative systems prevailing in the district are revenue and local self-government, under the revenue system, the district is divided into two revenue divisions, 6 taluks and 91 villages. The two revenue divisions are Alappuzha division comprising Cherthala,Ambalapuzha and Kuttanad taluks consisting of 47 villages and Chengannur division comprising Karthikapally, Chengannur andMavelikkara taluks consisting of 44 villages. For census purpose, Aroor, Arookutty, Kodamthuruth, Thanneermukkom Vadakku, Thaneermukkam Thekku, Vayalar East and Kokkothamangalam village, except the portion included in Cherthala municipality are treated in the 1981 census as census towns based on the threefold criteria adopted for treating a place as census town. Under the local self-government system, the district is divided into 5 statutory towns and Development blocks consisting of 71panchayats. It may be noted that the jurisdiction of Development Block includes the areas falling in census towns also.
Alappuzha assembly constituency is part of Alappuzha (Lok Sabha constituency). The other Lok Sabha constituency of the district is Mavelikkara
[edit]Education
Education in Alappuzha got a boost with the development of many schools, computer institutes and colleges all over the district. Alappuzha holds a distinct position in Kerala in terms of literacy rate. Presently, this district has 9 training schools, 405 lower primary schools, 105 high schools and 87 higher secondary schools. The first Higher secondary school in Alleppey was Leo XIIIth Higher Secondary School opened on 1889 June 1, by Portuguese Bishop John Gomes Pereira of Cochin.
Colleges in Alappuzha offer both graduate and post graduate courses for their students. Some of the colleges in Alappuzha are SD College, SN College, N.S.S. College,TD Medical College, St. Joseph's College for Women, St. Michael's college,T.K Madhava Memorial college,and St. Aloysius college.
ALPY IS A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE .IT'S ACTUALLY GOD'S OWN TOWN.
ReplyDeletethanks da
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