The Cabinet decision to upgrade Kattappana grama panchayat to a municipality is expected to set speed up development of the town, which is the main commercial centre of the high ranges. In the topographically divided Idukki district, Thodupuzha, in the plains, is the only municipality.
Grama panchayat president Johny Kulampally said a proposal to upgrade Kattappana was made in 2012-13. The panchayat did not qualify then because if failed to meet two criteria — density of population and the number of men engaged in agriculture, which was the main occupation. This time, there were no hurdles to the municipal status.
From Idukki district, Adimaly too had applied for upgrade. Adimaly was divided into two creating the Valara grama panchayat.
Mr. Kulampally said the new status would help Kattappana get more funds for development, especially for infrastructure. The 52.77 sq km panchayat has a population of 42,846 as per the 2011 census. There is no reserve forest area in the panchayat, which has coffee, cardamom, pepper, and tea as the main cash crops.
Panchayat secretary P.V. Biju said the panchayat already had ISO certification 9001-2008 for quality management and it was an e-panchayat with the digitalisation of all records. There are around 32,000 voters in the panchayat and the number of wards is 22. With the new municipal status there would be 30 to 32 wards, he said. Now the focus was on infrastructure building and the speedy development, he said.
