Ketti is a small town nestled in a large valley of the same name. It is located in The Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu State, South India and is a Revenue Village of Coonoor Taluk. Upper Ketti is another village called Yellanahalli, which is located on the main Coonoor to Ooty road.

Contents

 

  • 1 The town
  • 2 The Valley
  • 3 Culture
  • 4 Accessibility
  • 5 Demographics
  • 6 Recent developments
  • 7 Facilities
  • 8 Educational institutions
  • 9 2009 Floods
  • 10 See also
  • 11 Notes

The town

Most of the population are manual labourers. Agriculture, rearing livestock, masonry constitute the majority of the work done by the individuals in this place. In addition to this, they also take up jobs in the surrounding industrial establishments, such as the Needle Industries, the mushroom factory, Ambica tea factory, Mini flower garden near Palada bus stop and the various educational institutions (these include the CSI College of Engineering, the Laidlaw Memorial School and the CSI Middle School).[citation needed]

The Valley

The valley is the last major valley en route to Ooty along the Ooty-Coonoor highway. However, due to the extensive development of the valley in the recent years, the fauna present here has dwindled to a select few.[citation needed]

Culture

The people present here are mostly Badaga and Tamils with certain immigrants from other parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Sri Lankan Tamils. The chief language spoken here is Badaga and Tamil, although many people understand English, Malayalam and Kannada. Religion practised here is mostly Hinduism. However, strong influences remain of the Christian missionaries who lived here during the early 1900s.[citation needed]

The Nilagiri Passenger at Ketti Railway Station

Accessibility

Ketti is accessible by rail or road. The mountain train NMR (recently declared as a national heritage site by UNESCO and which provides a connection to the Chennai – Coimbatore – Mettupalayam Niligiri Express), can be boarded from the Mettupalayam station (at the foothills of the Nilgiris) to the Ketti railway station.[citation needed]

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[1] Ketti had a population of 24,465. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Ketti has an average literacy rate of 75%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 68%. In Ketti, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Recent developments

However, in the past decade, it has seen a noticeable spurt of development. Most of these developments are due to the establishment of the CSI College of Engineering, an engineering institution falling under the auspices of the Anna University, Chennai.