Promised irrigation schemes can transform this dry region

Tiruchuli farmers have been waiting for three decades for the implementation of Kambikudi and Sennalkudi schemes

The driest constituency of Virudhunagar district, Tiruchuli is craving for irrigation schemes that could help farmers raise a variety of crops from paddy to cotton. Except for Kariapatti Town panchayat, the constituency is dominated by rural areas of Kariapatti, Tiruchuli and Narikudi panchayat unions. For three decades, two irrigation schemes - Kambikudi and Sennalkudi schemes - that could bring surplus water from Vaigai river could not be properly executed. “Both the AIADMK and the DMK governments could not implement the most important Kambikudi channel scheme that would fill up 21 tanks to irrigate around 50,000 acres in the otherwise rain-fed areas,” said farmer A. Ammasi of Aviyur.