| Iritty | |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Pushpin Map: | India Kerala#India |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Kerala, India |
| Coordinates: | 11.9819°N 75.6703°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name1: | Kerala |
| Subdivision Name2: | Kannur |
| Established Title: | Municipality Established |
| Established Date: | 1st April 2016 |
| Parts Type: | Taluk |
| Parts: | Iritty |
| Government Type: | Municipal Council |
| Leader Title: | Municipal Chairman |
| Leader Name: | Sreelatha K |
| Leader Title1: | Deputy Superintendent of Police |
| Leader Name1: | Yogesh Mandhaiya IPS [1] |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 45.84 |
| Elevation Footnotes: | [2] |
| Elevation M: | 39 |
| Population Total: | 40,369 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code: | 670703 |
| Area Code: | 91 (0)490 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone code |
| Iso Code: | IN-KL |
| Registration Plate: | KL-78 |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Sex ratio |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | 1066 ♂/♀ |
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Nearest city |
| Blank2 Info Sec1: | Kannur |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Malayalam, English |
| Blank3 Name Sec1: | Assembly constituency |
| Blank3 Info Sec1: | Peravoor |
| Blank4 Name Sec1: | Lok Sabha constituency |
| Blank4 Info Sec1: | Kannur |
Iritty is a Municipality and a Taluk of Kannur district in Kerala State, India.[3] The town is the main market place for the farmer communities in the surrounding regions. Iritty is known as The Coorg Valley in God's Own Country. Iritty is at a distance of from Kannur International Airport and one among five taluks in Kannur district. Iritty is one of the major towns lies between Coorg and Kannur international airport -Mattanur.[4]
Iritty is located on the banks of Bavali river, which originates from the Wayanad passes.[5] Iritty is situated on the Thalassery-Coorg-Mysore highway or State Highway 30 (Kerala) between Mattanur and Virajpet. Nearby smaller towns are Padiyoor, Blathur, Peravoor, Kakkayangad, Aralam, Keezhppally, Vallithode, Karikkottakary, Angadikadavu, Anappanthy, Edoor, Ulikkal, Vattiyamthode, Mattara, Manikkadavu, Kilyianthara, Punnad, Charal, Edapuzha, Uruppumkutti, Vilakkode and Chavassery.
Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary is situated 8km (05miles) from Iritty.
Iritty is surrounded by hills. A river flowing through Iritty is more commonly known as Iritty Puzha (Iritty River). There is a steel girder bridge, built in 1933, over the river. There is a dam in the place Pazhassi for irrigation purpose named 'Pazhassi Dam' which is almost 10 km from the town. Wayanad tourist destinations are near from this place. The nearby areas are depending on Iritty for most of their shopping.Padiyoor, Payam, Aralam, Punnad, Vallithode, Kilyianthara, Kondambra, Kolikkadavu, Keezhur, Ulickal, Vattiyamthode, Mattara, Kalanki, Manikadave, Manippara Perumpally, Nuchiyad, Vayathoor, Edoor, Peratta, Karikottakari, Angadikadave, Puravayal, Kootupuzha, Charal, Alathupramba, Thermala, Urathoor, Vilakkode, Madathil etc. are the nearby small towns around.
The steel bridge in Iritty is a 10-ton bridge constructed in 1933 by the British authorities to connect the towns of Kodagu and Thalassery.[6] It was designed by George Anderson of the Institution of Civil Engineers.[7] [8] A July 2015 death of a man after being accidentally wedged between the handrail and a private bus raised concerns about the bridge's age.
Iritty was initially part of Keezhur-Chavassery Panchayat and upgraded to a Municipality on 1 November 2015. The Municipal town is divided into 33 wards. K Sreekala is the present municipal chairperson of Iritty. The current ruling party of Iritty Municipality is LDF.[9]
Iritty Municipality is a part of Peravoor Assembly Constituency under Kannur Loksabha Constituency.[10]
Iritty established as a Taluk headquarters since March 2013 when Kerala government declared new taluks for the state. Iritty taluk falls under Thalassery Revenue division.[11]
See also: Iritty taluk. Iritty Taluk has 20 villages
Iritty, one of the beautiful hill side towns in the north Malabar of Kerala. The beauty of Iritty lies together with the unique rivers, streams, green hills and valleys. The main Streams of Iritty river are by the three rivers such as Bavali river, Aralam river and Barapuzha (Veni river). Before the name 'Iritty,' made the first cry, this land was nourished by two main rivers, one Barapuzha and Bavalipuzha . People started calling both the rivers confluence as Iratta puzha (Double River & 'Puzha' means River), and in course of time the land became Iritty.[12]
Iritty has a tropical monsoon climate (Am) with little to no rainfall from December to March and heavy to extremely heavy rainfall from April to November.
Iritty lies at an equal distance from the nearby cities of Kannur, Thalassery, Mahe, Taliparamba and Virajpet (Karnataka State). The proposed Kannur Mysore National Highway or SH 30 passes through Iritty connecting Thalassery, Mattanur Airport and Kodagu. This was initially called the TC Road by the British. This highway is used by interstate bus services plying to Madikeri, Mysore and Bangalore.[13]
SH 36 connects Iritty with Taliparamba that gives access to other towns like Irikkur and Sreekandapuram.[14]
Keezhur is the starting point of Iritty town. This place is well-connected by road from both Kannur and Thalassery.[15] There are frequent buses from Iritty and to both these places and to several places across Kerala including Kottayam, Cochin (Ernakulam), Mangalore, Kasaragod, Panathur, Kanhangad, Cherupuzha, Wayanad and Kozhikode. There is no railway line, with the nearest railway stations at Kannur and Thalassery. The nearest airport is Kannur International Airport, at Mattannur is located 19.5 km south-west of Iritty.
Iritty is one of the major towns of the Kannur district. With nearby villages which produce cash crops and plantation crops, Iritty is a major commercial town too. It is one of the growing towns in the district. Iritty is famous for cash crops such as pepper, rubber and cashew nuts, some of which are sold under regional brands in various auction houses and commodities markets.
Iritty is primarily a trading town. Iritty is headquarters to several State Government offices. Most of these offices have jurisdiction over nearby towns like Mattanur and Peravoor.[16]
Iritty and the surrounding areas have a choice of tourism attractions.