Development Plan for Kalpetta Municipality

Regional Setting

CHAPTER 3 REGIONAL SETTING

In this chapter regional linkage of the town with surrounding district/ state and the regional setting of the town within the district are probed into. The regional linkage of the town with surrounding district is described in terms of connectivity and spatial location, whereas the regional setting of the town within the district is described based on the District Urbanisation Report prepared by Town and Country planning department.

3.1

Regional linkage of the town with surrounding District/State

Physiographically, Wayanad is situated in the south west edge of Peninsular shield of India, and is distinctly marked by the Western ghats where ground elevation above mean sea level range between 700-2100m, whereby it is totally contained within the Highland region of the state. The district is only connected by single mode of transport i.e road. The NH 766 connects the district with Kozhikode district and Mysore of Karnataka State. The Connectivity to the South is very difficult due to the steep hills and the presence of Thamarassery ghat having 9 Hairpin bends. The Calicut-Ootty road and Bathery-Gudallur road connects the District with Tamilnadu. Recently the Karnataka Govt. banned the night journey through NH 766 passes through Bandhipur National park which makes the interstate as well as domestic journey more difficult during the day time. Alternate Road proposal to Karnataka state under considerations is Kalpetta-Panamaram-Mananthavady-Kutta-Gonikuppa-Hunsur-Mysore road. Wayanad is connected to Mysore and Coorg districts in Karnataka, the Nilgiri in Tamilnadu, Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts in Kerala by road. There is no rail or air connectivity. MananthavadyBavali road and Sulthan Batheri-Mysore road (NH 766) connect the district to Karnataka. It is connected to Nilgiri district in TamilNadu by Sulthan Batheri-Ayyankolly-Gudallur road and Vythiri-Vaduvanchal- Gudallur road. The three roads which connect with Kozhikode and Kannur districts of Kerala are BavaliThalassery ghat NH 766 and MananthavadyKuttiyadi road (Kuttiyadi ghat). The land sliding and road accidents make the journey through ghats life threatening. Hence alternate road proposals avoiding ghat section are considered by the Government. The following proposals are under consideration. 1. Kalpetta Varambetta- Poozhithode Road 2. Meppadi-Chooralmala-Nilambur Road. 3. Thondernadu-Kunhome-Vilangad Road. 4. Chippilithode-Maruthilavu-Thalippuzha Road. 5. Meppadi-Kalladi-Anakkampoyil Road.

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Development Plan for Kalpetta Municipality

Regional Setting

Fig 3.1 Regional linkage of Kalpetta with surrounding district / state The regional linkage of Kalpetta with surrounding district / state is shown in Fig 3.1 and the road network of Wayanad district is shown in Fig 3.2. The analysis of regional linkage clearly emerges out the following fact

Fig 3.2 Transportation network of Wayanad

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Development Plan for Kalpetta Municipality

Regional Setting

NH 766 (Kozhikode - Kalpetta -Sultan Battery- Gundlupet - Mysore - Kollegal) is the major transportation corridor connecting not only the Kalpetta town but also the whole district for commutation of passenger and goods. NH 766 (Kozhikode - Kalpetta -Sultan Battery- Gundlupet - Mysore - Kollegal) passes through the entire length of the Kalpetta Municipality dividing the municipality in to two. Kalpetta town is well connected with Kozhikode one of the commercial hub of Kerala State, Mysore world famous tourist spot and urban centre in Karnataka State, Bangaluru known as Garden city and IT hub of India by NH 766. Kalpetta is well connected with Calicut International Airport situated at Karipore in Malappuram District (about 90 Km from Kalpetta) Mysore Air Port in Karnataka State by NH 766 Kalpetta is well connected with nearby Port Beypore Port by NH 766. Kalpetta is well connected with Ootty, world famous hill station and tourist spot in Tamilnadu district by SH - 29 (Kalpetta- Meppadi Vaduvanchal- Choladi- CherampadiGudalure- Ootty) Other regional linkage of Kalpetta Town with surrounding District / State are 1. Kalpetta Kainatty Panamaram Mananthavady- Boys town-Periya-Thalassery Kannur 2. Kalpetta Kainatty Panamaram Mananthavady- Thettu Road- Thirunelly (famous pilgrim centre). 3. Kalpetta Kainatty Panamaram Mananthavady- Thettu Road Tholpetti Mysore 4. Kalpetta Kainatty Panamaram Mananthavady Ammani Bavali Kutta Gonikoppai Hunsur - Mysore (Presently alternative route to Mysore due to restriction for night journey in NH- 766)

3.2

Regional setting of the town within the district based on the District Urbanisation Report
The regional setting of the town within the district has been established by analysing the 1. Inter District Connectivity Pattern 2. Hierarchy of Settlements derived out in the District Urbanisation Report 3. Functional Character of Settlements derived out in the District Urbanisation Report 4. Future Urban Profile of Settlements derived out in the District Urbanisation Report 5. Activity Pattern of Settlements derived out in the District Urbanisation Report 6. Spatial Structure of the District derived out in the District Urbanisation Report

3.2.1

Inter District Connectivity Pattern

Kalpetta is well connected with various growth centres and tourist spot within the District by fairly distributed road network. Obviously the NH-212 is the major transportation nerve which facilitates the above linkage. The Municipality have 8.10Km of NH 766 running south to north through the centre of the Municipality dividing the municipality in to two fairly equal portions. The second order road network consists of SH-54 Kalpetta- Pinangode road running from NH 766 towards west and MDR like Kalpetta- Mananthavady road and Kalpetta-Meppadi road starting from NH 766 connects the Municipality with Mananthavady and Meppadi respectively. Fig 3.2 shows the existing road network in the District and Fig 3.3 shows the existing road network
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Development Plan for Kalpetta Municipality

Regional Setting

within the Municipality. The analysis of the road network of the district and Municipality reveals the following facts Kalpetta is well connected with the major growth centres and second order settlements within the district which are Sulthan Batheri and mananthavadi by NH-766 and SH. Kalpetta is well connected with prominent tourist places within the district by fairly distributed road network.

Fig 3.3 Transportation network of Kalpetta municipality

3.2.2

Hierarchy of Settlements derived out in the District Urbanisation Report

The existing hierarchy of settlements within the district is determined based on the number and order of facilitation. Cumulative functional index (CFI) method is used for this purpose. The CFI of a settlement is assessed based on the number and presence of education, health, market, agricultural and allied section, transportation and community facilitation in the settlement CFI is plotted against the number of settlements to find out the hierarchy of settlements. From the analysis, it is seen that Kalpetta Municipality comes as the only Ist order settlement with a high CFI compared to other settlements in the district. Sulthan Batheri and Mananthavady grama panchayats come in the IInd order category. 8 LSGs comes under IIIrd order settlements and the remaining 15 local bodies are grouped under IVth order settlements. The Ist order settlement is the meeting point of NH and SH and also in the District Head Quarter. The IInd order settlement identified are taluk Head Quarter. Fig 3.4 shows the spatial distribution of the Ist, IInd and IIIrd order settlements in the District. The Identified IInd order settlements are the major growth centres in the district.

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Development Plan for Kalpetta Municipality

Regional Setting

The above facts clearly point out the primacy of the Kalpetta in terms of facilities and its functional importance as District head quarter to serve the entire District with District level facilities.

Fig 3.4 Functional hierarchy of the settlements in Wayanad district

3.2.3

Functional Character of Settlements derived out in the District Urbanisation Report

The function of a settlement is the major activity within the settlement, be it agricultural and allied activity (Pucca rural) or secondary sector and tertiary sector activities (Pucca urban activities) or a combination of the two (Semi urban or Semi rural). The District Urbanisation Report derived out the major functions of the settlements with in the District after analysing and scientifically synthesising the land use and average plot-size within the settlements. Wayanad District is composed of local bodies with rural nature. The main activity taking place in this district is Agriculture and Plantation. According to 2001 census, it is revealed that the primary labourers are shifting to other sectors, which changes the rural nature of municipality. But still at the other local bodies in the district shows rural character. There is only one census urban area in the district, the Kalpetta Municipality, where all its administrative set up is concentrated. Analysis for functional character reveals that all the LSGs in Wayanad District shows rural character. Fig 3.5 shows the Functional Character of the settlements in the district. This reveals the fact that the Kalpetta has got dual function. That is in terms of district head quarter, only urban centre in the district & only first order settlements the town has to perform the function of an urban centre with due consideration to service sector activity. Where as in terms of land use, presence of vested forest, average plot size, unique topography the town has also to sustain agro allied activity so as to ensure the optimum resource utilisation and above all to ensure the ecological and environmental aspects.
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Development Plan for Kalpetta Municipality

Regional Setting

Fig 3.5 Functional classification of the LSGs in the district

3.2.4

Future Urban Profile of Settlements derived out in the District Urbanisation Report

There is only one Urban Local Self Government (Kalpetta Municipality) in the District. The future urban profile of the district is determined based on criteria like existing statutory urban area, census urban area, grade of LSGs, hierarchy of settlements and perspectives in urban developments. It is revealed that there will be 8 more urban LSGs in the District by the end of next two decade. The growth rate of population density and present condition of the local body can be taken as deciding criteria by how fast it attain urban nature. It is assumed that, LSGs showing good development potential and having average growth rate of population density more than 20% may attain urban status in next decade. It can be inferred that Wayanad district will urbanize as urban towns instead of urban panchayats or urban municipalities. The Fig 3.6 shows the urban profile of the district. It should be noted that the future urban centres are well connected with Kalpetta and most of them are nearby LSGs.

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Development Plan for Kalpetta Municipality

Regional Setting

Fig 3.6 Urban profile of the district

3.2.5

Activity Pattern derived out in the District Urbanisation Report

The activity pattern of the settlements of the district is determined based on the Functional Character, land use concentration and urban profile. It is seen from the analysis, in the 10 LSGs the predominant activity is primary (agriculture) in which agriculture and animal husbandry activity are predominant and in another 8 LSGs Agriculture along with plantation and Forest activity are predominant. In 7 LSGs secondary and tertiary activities are predominant and only one Local Self Government (Kalpetta Municipality) shows urban activities are predominant. It is inferred that Panamaram Grama Panchayat has to be upgraded as urban area because it becomes Head Quarter of newly formed block panchayat and its development potential shows a drastic increase. Similarly Vythiri grama panchayat shows both primary and urban activity together. It is an entry panchayat to Wayanad district and taluk head quarter. NH 766 passing through it. Hence in near future it will change to urban activity area. Fig 3.7 shows the activity pattern of the district.

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Development Plan for Kalpetta Municipality

Regional Setting

Fig 3.7 Activity pattern of the settlements of Wayanad district

3.2.6

Spatial Structure of the District derived out in the District Urbanisation Report

The spatial structure of a region is defined as the geographical distribution of people and other uses of land across the region and the pattern of trips necessitated by their land uses; spatial structure of a region defines the function within the sub region, hierarchy and connectivity. The spatial structure of the district can be obtained by overlaying the map of activity pattern, hierarchy of settlements and connectivity. This gives the spatial structure of the district in the present scenario. The major activity in Wayanad district is agriculture including plantation. Concentration of forest land around the peripheral region limits urban as well as agricultural activities in these areas. The district is well connected with roads with a well developed road network composed of NH, SH, district roads and Village roads. The major problems are poor surface conditions of the most of the roads and insufficient carriage width. In other words, the settlements are well connected with poor roads. As per the proposed hierarchy of settlements in the district Urbanization Report (DUR), there is one first order settlement, two second order settlements and eight third order settlements in the district. Ist and IInd order settlements shows urban nature whereas most of the third order settlements shows semi rural characteristics and the remaining pucca rural. Higher concentration of forest land and agricultural and environment tourism based economy holds this district in and semi-rural character. Activities in Wayanad are scattered everywhere is best example of ribbon development and hence the identified urban area holding
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Development Plan for Kalpetta Municipality

Regional Setting

lion share of NH and SH. Since there are no major industrial or commercial development proposals, in the district, Wayanad will continue the present spatial structure. Considering the geographical and environmental conditions of Wayanad, the projects which introduced should be non-polluting and eco-friendly ones. The analysis of spatial structure clearly reveals the entire spatial structure is based on the existing urban centre and district head quarter Kalpetta as first order settlement. Fig 3.8 shows the Spatial Structure of the district.

Fig 3.8 Spatial structure of the district

3.3 Conclusion
The analysis of Regional linkage of the town with surrounding District/State and Regional setting of the town within the district based on the District Urbanisation Report clearly points out the fact that the Kalpetta municipality is well connected with surrounding District/State, Airport, Port, tourist spots, growth centres within the district by road network. The analysis also reveals the fact that the Kalpetta has got dual function. That is in terms of district head quarter, only urban centre in the district & only fist order settlements the town has to perform the function of an urban centre with due consideration to service sector activity. Where as in terms of land use, presents of vested forest, average plot size, unique topography the town has also to sustain agro allied activity so as to ensure the optimum resource utilisation and above all to ensure the ecological and environmental aspects.

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