Mudukulathur extects its rightful share of Vaigai waters

  The Mudukulathur Assembly Constituency, unlike any other constituencies in the Ramanathapuram district, is wholly dependent on farming.  

Though not wholly fed by the Vaigai river, the farming carried out here, relying predominantly on a complex network of rain-fed tanks and seasonal canal, occupies a significant part of the local economy.

This precarious dependency leaves the agricultural output—and the livelihoods of its people—at the mercy of unpredictable monsoon patterns. 

V. Mayilvahanan, district secretary of the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, noted that expectations for a permanent solution rose when the previous AIADMK government introduced the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar river-linking project. 

Although the project had initially commenced, it came to a standstill following the change in the State administration. 

“The reliance on the important water sources – Uthangal canal, Sakkarathevan canal, Kanjampatti odai, Paralaiyar and Malataru – is always a double-edged sword for the farmers here,” he added. 

Despite achieving surplus yields, paddy, chili, and cotton farmers are unable to fully reap the benefits as they lack access to modern, enclosed storage facilities to preserve their produce. 

“Farmers are forced to transport their paddy as far as Sivaganga or Thanjavur for storage. If Mudukulathur and Kamuthi were equipped with paddy warehouses and cold storage facilities, farmers could avoid these heavy out-of-pocket transportation costs,” Mr. Mayilvahanan stated. 

Farmers in Kadaladi, Kamuthi, and Thiruvadanai have suffered significant losses, managing to cultivate only 35% of their land last year. “Although these farmers faced low yields due to water scarcity, they were unable to claim their losses under crop insurance,” he stated.  

A combination of procedural hurdles—including the reliance on average loss metrics, the failure to recognise individual farmers as victims, and flawed assessment techniques—has stripped the constituency’s farmers of their promised safety net, leaving them in a precarious financial state.  

However, the incumbent MLA and Minister for Forest K.S. Rajakannappan who represented the constituency for five years, failed to take up even the basic demands of the public in the assembly.  

The Narippayur desalination plant, once hailed as a vital initiative to solve the constituency’s water crisis, has been grounded to a halt. The facility has ceased all operations due to the local panchayats’ inability to settle the plant’s operational costs, he noted.  

Several vital projects and facilities within the constituency have been allowed to lapse into a state of permanent halt, despite their challenges being entirely resolvable.  

It is particularly concerning that local representatives, including Mr. Rajakannappan, have failed to take measurable action to address these issues, he charged.  

Anthony Selvaraj, a palm tree climber and farmer from Sayalkudi, noted that consecutive governments have failed to fully utilize the region’s vast palm tree resources.  

While the one lakh palm trees lining the East Coast Road provide a primary livelihood for nearly 15,000 families, the government’s failure to streamline the production and distribution of palm-based goods has resulted in a missed opportunity for large-scale rural employment and sustainable industrial growth, he observed.  

This has left including him thinking about quitting the occupation of palm tree climbing. 

Despite formation of Tamil Nadu Palm Tree Workers Welfare Board under the leadership of former MLA Ernavoor Narayanan, the board failed to recognise even the basic needs of the farmers.  

While traders purchase 10kg of palm jaggery from farmers for ₹2,500, they often resell it at double or even triple that price. This massive price disparity is deeply disturbing, he noted. 

Following the model of the welfare board for potters in Manamadurai, a dedicated Palm Welfare Board should have served as the fulcrum for regulating and deciding the prices of palm produce. 

However, due to a lack of proactive leadership, this essential oversight is missing, and the hardships faced by the farmers continue unabated, Mr. Selvaraj lamented.  

“Due to this extreme dependency on palm traders, farmers and climbers remain perpetually indebted. These traders play a dual role, acting as both buyers and moneylenders who charge exorbitant interest rates, effectively trapping the community in a cycle of debt,” he explained. 

V. Murugan of CPI (M) in Mudukulathur, decried the government’s deaf ears to the unanimous demand of the farmers and residents of the constituency to rightfully allocate Vaigai water for them.  

“Even though the Parthibanur dam which branches out from the Vaigai river is located in this region, the water supply reaching Mudukulathur remains extremely limited. Since no formal water allotment exists for our area, we only receive excess overflow. Effectively, we have been excluded from the primary benefits of the river water,” he claimed. 

Adding, he noted that the issue could be resolved immediately by simply passing a resolution in the State Assembly. However, the legislators, irrespective of the party, have completely ignored the significance of this demand, showing no initiative to make it a reality.

Published – April 03, 2026 09:55 pm IST