Regular drinking water supply, streetlights on State highway, and bifurcating Mettur taluk are prominent demands in this constituency

The Mettur constituency is 52 km away from Salem town, which is known for its chemical industries and the famous Mettur Dam, which is the main source for farming and drinking water in many districts in the State. Apart from industries, bananas and chilli are cultivated in Kolathur and other parts of the constituency. Fishing is another profession for people in this constituency.

Likewise, vegetables, particularly tomatoes are cultivated in Mecheri. The Mettur Assembly constituency shares borders with Erode and Dharmapuri districts and the Karnataka State. The Mettur constituency consists of areas under Mettur taluk, Mettur municipality, Kolathur and Mecheri panchayat unions, Kolathur town panchayat, Mecheri town panchayat, and Veerakkalpudur town panchayat.

Mettur is also a stronghold of AIADMK, as the party and its alliance won eight times, including AIADMK in 1977, 1980, 1984, 1991, 2001, and 2016. Its allies, PMK, won in 2021, and DMDK won in 2011. DMK won only one time, in 1996; its allies, the Praja Socialist Party, won in 1967 and 1971; CPI (M) won in 1989; and PMK won in 2006. The Congress won in 1957 and 1962.

N. Prasanth, a resident of Kolathur, said that near the Kolathur bus stand there is a Tasmac outlet functioning, which became problematic for the public. From afternoon till the closing of the shop, customers gather in large numbers. People, especially women, face issues while crossing the road. So, this Tasmac outlet should be shifted from this place, he added.

Dhanalakshmi, a resident of Masilapalayam, said that to go to Mysuru, everyone should travel through the State highway road passing through Mettur, Kullarampatti, Masilapalayam, Viralikadu, Perumal Kovil, Moolakadu, and Kolathur Junction. But in this stretch there are no proper streetlights. Many accidents took place in this stretch, especially at night time. So to prevent accidents, adequate streetlights should be installed, she added.

R. Sakthivel, a resident of Mettur Municipality, said that even though the Mettur Dam is in our municipality, drinking water is not supplied properly. Once in 10 days, drinking water is supplied to many wards. A special scheme is to be implemented for proper drinking water supply to Mettur Municipality, he added.

R. Kasi, a resident of Kolathur, said that as Kolathur is a steep area, drinking water could not be pumped easily from Mettur Dam or from the Cauvery River. The government planned a lift irrigation scheme to take 550.206 million cusecs of water from Mettur right bank canal to fill ponds and tanks in the Kolathur panchayat union in the Salem district and the Anthiyur and Bhavani taluks in the Erode district. Minister Muthusamy also inspected Chettipatti and Chinna Mettur in October 2025 regarding the project and after that there was no improvement. If this lift irrigation scheme is implemented, it will fulfil the water needs of the Kolathur panchayat union, he added.

Demanding bifurcation of Mettur taluk, C. Sekar, a resident of Mecheri, said that Mecheri is 20 km away from Mettur and villages near Thoppur in the Dharmapuri district border come under Mettur taluk, nearly 55 km away from Mettur. People from these areas come to Mettur by travelling 55 km for getting patta, patta transfer, and other revenue services. So a new taluk should be created as Mecheri as its headquarters by bifurcating Mettur taluk. Likewise, the widening of Mecheri-Thoppur was delayed for years. The roads should be widened to prevent accidents, he added.

Chandru, a resident of Pottaneri, said that the sewage water was released into Pottaneri Lake, M. Kalipatti lake and Muniappan Kovil Lake. This should be prevented. The M. Kalipatti lake was getting water under the 100-lake scheme. But as water is only received when surplus water is released from Mettur, except during that time, the lake remains dry. Hence, people released sewage into the lake, he alleged.

This time, G. Venkatachalam is contesting as AIADMK candidate. On behalf of DMK, Mithun Chakravarthy is contesting. Likewise, Selvam from TVK and Vidhya from NTK are contesting. AIADMK believes that they can easily win the elections with PMK in their alliance and the farmers who benefit under the 100 lake scheme would support them. The DMK cadres hope that last time the party lost by 656 votes only. So this time, DMK will clinch victory. The TVK and NTK cadres claim that people have lost their belief in the DMK and AIADMK and will give a chance for them.

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Published – April 02, 2026 07:40 pm IST