All That Happened in Attingal in 2009

Attingal still remains a poor cousin of Thiruvananthapuram city – perhaps it will remain so forever. However, there were many interesting incidents happened in the town during 2009. As we all gearing up to welcome the New Year – nay, the new decade – here are some of the blog-worthy incidents happened in Attingal during the last 12 months.

Traffic jam

You go to any online discussion forums about Attingal; the first thing you notice would be the concerns about traffic jams. Things were not that bad, say, about three or four years ago. However, the lack of a proper bypass and an unforeseen spurt in the number of vehicles ensured that the traffic at the centre of the town remains a crawl on most times on any given day.

The following are the worst traffic jams I have encountered in Attingal during 2009.

1. On the day of official Onam celebrations in Attingal.
2. On the day of Manushya Changala.
3. On the day (December 23) the INTUC workers felicitated Mr. Ajith Kumar for becoming a member of national committee of INTUC. The meeting was held at NH 47 (on one side, mind you) in front of KSRTC garage in the busy Kizhakke Nalumukku junction. Even a child knows that any meeting conducted there would create traffic chaos. The police did nothing to prevent the local leader (who once was a prominent muscle man of the Congress party) and his noisy supporters from disrupting the traffic. It has been rumored that Mr. Ajith Kumar wants to contest for the next assembly election in Congress ticket from Attingal. If he does not take steps to avoid incidents like this, he may well have to face the same fate that he experienced in the last municipal election. He got only less than 100 votes from the ward in which he contested.
4. Yesterday’s Sivagiri March by Biju Ramesh too managed to paralyze the traffic in Attingal. There were two Sivagiri marches yesterday, representing two factions of SNDP. Biju Ramesh (son of Rameshan contractor who owns the Rajadhani group of hotels and other institutions) led the march of Gokulam Gopalan faction. SRM Aji headed the march of official faction (that is, Vellapalli Nadesan group). We can dedicate this traffic jam to the group rivalry in SNDP.

Highway or bypass?

As a result of the often irksome traffic blocks, everybody in Attingal agrees that the town badly needs a bypass road. Hence, there was happiness all around when the government announced the proposal for constructing a bypass for NH 47 through Attingal. Today is the deadline set by highway authorities for acquisition of land, which has not yet been completed. Still, one has to say that considerable progress has been made on the bypass construction front, though there remain certain issues such as which road will become bypass and which will become the highway.

Onam celebrations

The official Onam celebration conducted by the Attingal municipality did cause lengthy queues on both sides of the highway. However, it was roaring success for those who participated in the procession and those who organized it. Click here to see some pictures of the celebration.

Drama festival

A drama festival was held on the open compound opposite private bus stand in Attingal in October. This was the fourth edition of the annual event. The dramas shown were mainly the so-called “professional” dramas (a drama equivalent of commercial films). There was decent crowd on almost all days of the event that spanned over two weeks. Those who love art-house dramas may have been disappointed; still a majority of the audience seemed to have enjoyed most of the dramas.

What next? Attingal municipality is planning to conduct a film festival. An organizing committee has already been formed. Hopefully, next year’s year-end review would contain details of film festival too.

Rush in front of Supplyco stores

The long queues in front of the Supplyco outlet opposite private bus stand (adjacent to Aryas hotel) have been a permanent sight on the eve of all festivals: Onam, Bakrid, and Christmas. Most of the essential food items were available in these stores at a subsidized rate. Some of the items cost only half the retail price. I think, for once, we can give credit to this government for providing the essential items at a significantly low price.

However, getting the items at this low price was not easy. Long queues were formed even in the early morning on most days. People reportedly started coming as early as 5’o clock in the morning to become the early birds. Most of the queue-standers were women. Where did the men stand in even lengthier queues? Of course, in front of the Beverages Corporation retail outlet.

A theatre complex in Attingal

The town got its first real theatre complex when two new theatres were added to Ganga Theatre at Mamam. The new ones are called Yamuna and Kaveri (do not ask about Saraswathi, the logical third). Now Attingal boasts of the presence of nine theatres: Ganga, Yamuna, Kaveri, Dreams, Gowri, Vysakha, SR (which is almost dysfunctional now), Thapasya and Paradise.

Tourism ambitions

Attingal municipality announced earlier this year its tourist ambitions. They want to promote the historic sites associated with Attingal mutiny. In addition, they plan to arrange boating facilities in Kollampuzha lake. Perhaps, an exotic boat ride through Vamanapuram River might be a better option.

And Others

There were many more events: DHRM’s activities, Love Jihad, a new MP, and inauguration of the mini civil station. Hopefully, 2010 will be a far better year.

Happy New Year to all the readers wherever you are and whenever you read this.