The Amaravathi Cooperative Sugar Mill in Madathukulam, in Tiruppur district. Picture Credit score: S. Siva Saravanan
The functioning of the Amaravathi Cooperative Sugar Mill has emerged as a key challenge within the Madathukulam Meeting constituency, with farmers in search of its revival to assist sugarcane cultivation and guarantee steady returns, whilst issues over ingesting water provide and the dearth of tourism growth persist.
Situated alongside the southern facet of Tiruppur district, the constituency is predominantly rural, with agriculture because the mainstay, and sugarcane, coconut, paddy and greens cultivated throughout the area.
The Amaravathi and Thirumoorthy dams, which irrigate about 5 lakh acres, fall inside its limits.
Fashioned in 2011 after delimitation, Madathukulam was carved out of the Udumalpet constituency. Almost 90% of the realm includes villages, and it consists of 18 hill habitats inhabited by tribal communities inside the Anamalai Tiger Reserve.
C. Mahendran. File | Picture Credit score: Particular Association
In line with authorities knowledge, Tiruppur district has 3,484 hectares underneath sugarcane, with a productiveness of 117 tonnes per hectare. Farmers say the cooperative sugar mill has been working with equipment put in over 70 years in the past, leading to a decline in crushing capability. Whereas crushing operations continued till 2023, extraction ranges dropped. Since October 2024, the distillery division has been producing rectified spirit and ethanol utilizing molasses sourced from different mills within the State.
Okay. Periyasamy, a coconut farmer, stated the closure of crushing operations has left sugarcane growers depending on personal patrons, typically forcing them to promote at decrease costs with restricted scope for negotiation. He stated there was a requirement to revive the cooperative sugar mill at full capability. Farmers have additionally sought the institution of a everlasting paddy procurement heart in Madathukulam taluk and a chilly storage facility to scale back post-harvest losses.
Consuming water provide can also be a difficulty, with the mixed ingesting water scheme sourced from Thirumoorthy and Amaravathi dams reported to be insufficient in a number of village panchayats. A. Anand Kumar, a resident, stated individuals had been affected as a result of lack of standard ingesting water provide for over every week.
Residents say key infrastructure works stay pending, together with desilting of the dams. P. Suresh Kumar, a resident, stated that regardless of the presence of picturesque landscapes across the dam websites and hilly areas, no concrete steps had been taken to develop tourism within the space.
The situation of tribal habitations continues to be a priority. Over 2,000 individuals in hill villages, together with Mavadappu, Kurumalai, Melkurumalai and Kuzhipatti, lack highway connectivity, electrical energy and entry to healthcare. Residents have additionally raised a long-standing demand for voting rights in native physique elections, stating that they continue to be excluded, with poor connectivity persevering with to have an effect on entry to important providers.
Since its formation in 2011, the constituency has seen alternating electoral outcomes, with the AIADMK successful twice and the DMK as soon as.
Revealed – March 28, 2026 07:08 pm IST