Mavoor is a town in the

Kozhikode district Kozhikode (), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, along its southwestern Malabar Coast. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation has a corporation l ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is located 19 km from

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

city.

Etymology

The former name of

Mavoor Mavoor is a town in the Kozhikode district of Kerala, India. It is located 19 km from Kozhikode city. Etymology The former name of Mavur, Mavoor was Pulpparambu, or "hayfields" in Malayalam, as grass for thatching houses was stored i ...

was Pulpparambu, or "hayfields" in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, as grass for thatching houses was stored in this town. (In Malayalam, ''pul'' means "grass/hay", and ''parampu'' means "field".)

Geography

Mavoor is located 21 km east of

city, beside the Chaliyar River.

Grasim factory

Until the 1960s, Mavoor was like any other village in Kerala. During the 1963s the industrial house of Birla established a factory named "' Gwalior Rayons'" (later renamed as Grasim) at Mavoor for producing pulp and fibre on 316 acres of land. An integrated township with schools, a hospital, and a police station also came up. The arrival of Gwalior Rayons caused a rapid change in the area. In 1985 Grasim shut down for three years. The disruption caused to the local economy was significant. 11 suicides in Mavoor were attributed to this. In 1988, the Government of Kerala offered more concessions to the management and the factory was re-opened by the management. The factory faced many protests as it turned out to be a heavily polluting unit. The management avoided the use of any pollution control measures, citing profitability concerns. A large quantity of pollutants produced by Grasim ended up in the Chaliyar river which flows beside the factory. The thick effluents recklessly released by the factory were identified as poisonous. The factory was also a serious air polluter. The impact of the pollution could be seen in the every aspect of the town. Cases of asthma and other respiratory diseases shot up. There was a marked decline in the fish population. Thousands of dead fish and other aquatic animals surfaced from the Chaliyar river. Environmental organizations started agitations focusing on this aspect of the factory. E N Peethambaran master was a significant figure who worked for restoration of the environmental cleanliness, as well as ensuring justice to the workers of the factory. A series of labour strikes and heightened trade union was also witnessed at the plant. All these factors contributed to the shutdown of Gwalior Rayons in 2001. (See also the first environmental movement in Kerala.) The closure of the factory caused the loss of employment of around 3000 people.

Future plans

386 acres of land is still owned by the Birla group of companies in Mavoor town. The government can utilize this land for the development of Mavoor town. However, the control of the land is still vested with the Birla management. The Kerala Government is planning to build another industrial hub in Mavoor which will be an eco-friendly project. This area is also considered ideal for the setting up of the

AIIMS The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. These institutes ha ...

hospital, considering the availability of the required amount of land in the vicinity of an abundant freshwater source - the Chaliyar. Moreover, Mavoor, owing to the previous presence of a factory, is fully equipped to house big installations and organizations...

Culture

Many

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

s and churches are situated in the nearby places. Kalchira Sree Narasimha Moorthy Kshethram, kanniparambu Siva kshethram, Mavoor Juma masjid, Valiya Juma masjid, Kalpally Juma masjid, Christ the King Church, and Little Flower Church are the major religious centers in Mavoor. Arts and sports clubs drive the cultural aspirations of people. The Mavoor Public Library is on the ground floor of the Grama Panchayath Office.

Climate

The district has a generally humid climate with a hot season extending from March to May. The most important rainy season is during the south west

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

, which sets in the first week of June and extends up to September. In June and July, most of the places suffer the threat of floods.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Mavoor had a population of 27,843. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Mavoor has an average literacy rate of 82%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85%, and female literacy is 79%. In Mavoor, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Suburbs of Mavoor

The suburbs of Mavoor are Kuttikkadu, Valayanoor, Kuniyankadavu, Chittari Pilakkal, Thathoor, Koolimad, Cheruvadi, Kodiyathur, Kettungal, Ayamkulam, Kacherikunnu, Kanniparamba, Cherupa, Kuttikadave, Valayanoor, Peruvayal, Cheruppa, Thengilakkadavu, Kalleri, Manakkad, Kolakkott Thazham, Kalpally and Parammal.

Educational institutions

Some of the educational institutes are Mavoor GMUP school, GHSS Mavoor, Mahlara Public school (CBSE), Mahlara Arts & Science College, Crescent English school, St. Mary's English Medium School St. Mary's English Medium School
/ref> Aduvad AUP school, GUP school, Arayancode ALP school, ALP School Kanniparamba, Govt UP School Manakkad, Cheruppa and Govt LP School Nechikkad, Cherooppa.

References

External links

* Website for Mavoor with photos

* Documentary on Mavoor Chaliyar pollution
''Chaliyar... The Final Struggle'' by P.Baburaj and C.Saratchandran
{{Kozhikode district Cities and towns in Kozhikode district Suburbs of Kozhikode