The gala opening of the renovated Sweet Meat (S.M.) Street in the city, just in time for the Christmas-New Year celebration, by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the release of master plan for the Kozhikode urban area by Minister for Local Administration K.T. Jaleel in July were some of the proud events for the district in 2017.
Now, Kozhikode has become the first city in the State to have a comprehensive master plan for the next 20 years. A proposal to ban vehicular traffic on the renovated S.M. Street was also in the news. In spite of the traders opposing the move, the City Corporation council recommended to ban traffic between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. and also to permanently bar heavy vehicles from entering the street.
The city was put on tenterhooks for more than three hours after a major fire broke out on S.M. Street around 11.30 a.m. on February 22.
A textile shop, housed in a three-storey building, from where the fire began, was completely destroyed. There were no human casualties but property was damaged extensively.
Bomb attack
The year also witnessed the presence of subversive elements trying to create panic with some unidentified persons hurling two bombs at the CPI(M) district office in June. This had led to the removal of the Kozhikode district police chief J. Jayanath, raising concerns in the Police Department.
The protest by anti-GAIL gas pipeline action committee at Eranhimavu and Mukkom forced the State government to work out a package for the locals.
As many as 25 unidentified bodies of missing fishermen were recovered from Kozhikode shoreline in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi.
The year saw the Central Bureau of Investigation registering cases against leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League in the massacre of nine fishermen at the seaside village of Marad and the agency arresting nine local leaders of the CPI(M) in the murder of the Choriyanchalil Manoj, a RSS activist, in 2012.
After a two-year stint, District Collector N. Prasanth, who pioneered a slew of popular initiatives, including his pet project Compassionate Kozhikode connecting to all sections of people, was transferred in February. He was also in news for the wrong reasons after his slugfest with Congress MP M.K. Raghavan when he posted the map of Kunnamkulam on his Facebook page.
The suicide of Kavilpurayidathil Joy of Chakkittappara, after village office staff refused to accept land tax in June, brought to the fore the problems of settler farmers. The year also saw an MBBS student of KMCT Medical College taking the extreme step by leaping to her death from the top floor of the college building in November.
