Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

has been a major transformation in the locality. The location of Chelari in the national
highway has assisted its growth. Another market centre is around the University Campus,
for obvious reasons. Here also the highway has played a significant role.
All these point to the dispersed character of building construction. Buildings are not
constructed in an urban nuclear area, extending outwards. Instead, buildings are
constructed anywhere with sufficient road access so that it is not difficult for anyone with
a vehicle or using public transport to reach there. Thus we find building construction in a
number of places such as Kohinoor, Chelari. padikkal, palakkal, parambilpeetika,
kadappadi, alinchodu, kunnathparamba, kakkad, pantharangadi, palathingal, Ullanam,
Vallikkunnu railway station, anayarangadi, anangadi, and so on, all of which were small
market centers earlier, and now are developing into mini-urban centers. This form of
dispersed growth has its advantages, as it helps a large number of people living even in
the interior regions to gain access to commodities sold in the market. But the dispersed
growth does not solve the problems of use of water, waste disposal, including wastage
from shops and restaurants and other problems associated with dense growth of inhabited
buildings. It should also be noted that the growth of the mini-market centers are related to
the expansion of house-sites, to cater to the needs of the householders. While many of the
old markets specialized in some of the items like copra, fish, cattle, areca, coconut
products and other commodities, the new market centers are standard market centers
dealing in essential commodities and household articles.
Walking took us predominantly through agricultural and commercial areas, but rarely
through industrial areas. Industrial concerns of a reasonable dimension were few and far
between. They included the IOC bottling plant at Chelari, a public sector undertaking, a
tile factory at parakkadavu, run by a workers co-operative, private steel works at
Venniyur, a private fiber works at Cheruppara in Nannambra, a tile factory and a shoe
company at parambilpeetika, a hollow bricks factory at Ungungal in Peruvallur and a