Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government has decided to consider all census towns, i.e., panchayat regions with urban characteristics, as urban areas. For this, these areas will be mapped.
As per the 2011 census, there were 59 statutory towns and 461 census towns in Kerala. Statutory towns include municipalities and corporations.
While there were 101 census towns in 2001, there were 461 census towns by 2011.
Of the 461 statutory towns, 342 are in six districts: 128 in Thrissur, 47 in Ernakulam, 48 in Kozhikode, 60 in Kannur, 33 in Alappuzha, and 26 in Thiruvananthapuram.
Urban population
As per the 2001 census, the urban population in Kerala was 25.96 per cent. This increased to 47.72 per cent in 2011.
Census town
A minimum population of 5,000, a population density of at least 400 people per sq km and at least 75 per cent engaged in non-agricultural jobs are the criteria for classification as census towns.
No increase in tax
There will be no change in taxes when the village becomes census town. It will continue to exist as a panchayat.
CRZ implication
Though the government move is to prepare a spatial plan to identify census towns, more panchayats are expected to be out of the strict regulations of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification.
It will be examined whether these areas can be moved from CRZ-III category, which is applicable to panchayats, to CRZ-II, which is applicable to urban areas, and with more relaxations. The state government is of the view that the coastal zone management project should be formulated by considering panchayats with urban characteristics as urbans areas.
Only after mapping, will it be known how many of the panchayats, where the CRZ is applicable, will become urban areas. As per the 2019 notification, CRZ-III norms are applicable in 98 villages across 79 panchayats.
In CRZ-III A, construction is permitted only at a distance of 50 metre from the high-tide line; while 200 metre is the permitted distance in areas classified as CRZ-III B.
A government-constituted expert committee on CRZ will discuss whether changes in zone classification are possible when panchayats under CRZ-III are declared as urban areas.
