Phenomenal jump in urban population

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: God's Own Country is bidding farewell to the concept of villages, it appears. Figures released by the Directorate of Census Operations, Kerala, reveals a phenomenal jump in urban population, mostly due to the fact that the number of towns have shot up from 159 in 2001 to 520 in 2011.
Statistics show that urban population has witnessed 92.72 percent growth over the past decade. In 2011, 47.72 percent of Kerala's population 1,59,32,171 people live in urban areas. In 2001, just 25.96 percent lived in the towns and cities. Correspondingly, there has been a big dip in rural population. Census 2011 shows that 52.30 percent of the people 1,74,55,506 people live in villages. To understand the change that has occurred in Kerala, it should be noted that 74.04 percent lived in rural areas. ''The number of towns has increased considerably over the past 10 years,'' said Dr V M Gopala Menon, Director, Census Operations, Kerala.