Thirumayam battles a slew of problems

Tirumayam grapples with agricultural, infrastructural, and environmental challenges, impacting livelihoods and necessitating urgent improvements.

Predominantly agrarian, the Thirumayam Assembly constituency in Pudukottai district is beset with civic and agriculture-related problems worrying the electorate.  Poor monsoon, dry waterbodies, depleting groundwater level and lack of proper water management and conservation measures have all hit hard farmers solely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.

Encompassing Thirumayam, Arimalam, and Ponnamaravathy unions, the constituency continues to remain industrially backward necessitating many educated youth to move out in search of employment.  Farmers rue that Thirumayam being a rain-fed region and blessed with several tanks, sufficient attention had not been accorded to water management and conservation measures over the years affecting the agriculturists.

“Several basic requirements of the people are yet to be fully met,” says M. Kulanthairaj — a resident of Thirumayam and district president of the “Neer Nilai Mattrum Sutru Soozhal Paadhukaapu Vivasaya Sangam”.  “There is an urgent need to carry out dredging of waterbodies and removal of ‘seemai karuvelam’ (prosopis juliflora) - an exotic and invasive species,” he says.

“Absence of adequate rainfall and depleting water table has prompted many farmers to shift from paddy cultivation to raising casuarina,” says G. Adaikappan, a farmer of Arimalam claiming that Thirumayam continued to remain a backward region.  Farmers of the constituency are strongly in favour of expediting the Cauvery-Gundar interlinking project via Pudukottai district which they say would be immensely beneficial by steadily increasing the water table.

Several acres of land in Thirumayam constituency have been planted with eucalyptus trees by the Forest Department which has led to depletion of water table, complain farmers. Instead of eucalyptus, fruit-bearing trees could be grown which would prevent monkeys and deers from entering human habitations in search of food and water, they say.

Road infrastructure in many villages are not up to the expectations yet, says M. Veeramani — district vice-president of the Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam.  “Weaving industry, which once thrived, is crippled today because of lack of assistance and support. Many of those involved in this trade have taken up other sources of employment to eke over their living”, says M. Kumar, working president of the Pasumai Meetpu Kuzhu based in Arimalam.