History of Local Progress
The first school in the panchayat was established in 1889. It was the Aided L.P. School in Bekal (Malomkunnu), set up by the Basel Mission headquartered in Mangalore. Instruction at this school was conducted in the Kannada language. However, by 1932, today's Government L.P. School in Uduma Town had already begun as a single-teacher school. The Thiruvakkoli L.P. School was also established shortly thereafter. A welfare school started in Bara for marginalized communities later grew into the Government Welfare School.
In the early days, the route for the people of Uduma to connect with the taluk headquarters in Kanhangad was via Palakkunnu–Thachangad through Pallikkara. However, with the construction of the Bekal Bridge, a distance of approximately 10 kilometers could be saved. Furthermore, the construction of the Thekkil Bridge on National Highway 17 made transit toward Kasaragod via Chattanchal smoother.
The railway track laid across the panchayat over a distance of 4.34 kilometers in 1905 significantly influenced transportation and commerce. At Kottikulam Railway Station, located on the southern boundary of the panchayat, only local trains stopped in the early days. From the beginning, fisherfolk utilized this station to transport fish to other places. For long-distance travel, local residents typically took local trains to Kanhangad or Kasaragod to connect with long-distance passenger trains.
