Visited abandoned Thamirabarani-Karumeniaru-Nambiar river linking project #namakkunaame http://t.co/qi8v2VW7xR

During his Namakku Naame tour through southern Tamil Nadu in September 2015, DMK Treasurer M. K. Stalin conducted an on-site inspection of the neglected Thamirabarani-Karumeniyar-Nambiyar river linking project in Tirunelveli district. Conceived, designed, and initiated in 2008 by the DMK government led by Chief Minister Dr. Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi as Tamil Nadu's first intra-state river interlinking initiative, the ambitious project aimed to divert surplus floodwaters from the perennial Thamirabarani river to drought-prone, parched rural pockets across Nanguneri, Radhapuram, Sathankulam, and Thisayanvilai. Walking along the incomplete canal bed, Stalin observed partially excavated trenches choked with thorny vegetation and abandoned concrete culverts falling into ruin. He strongly condemned the AIADMK government for stalling this vital infrastructure project purely out of political vendetta, freezing budgetary allocations and causing colossal cost escalations while millions of cusecs of surplus monsoon water drained wastefully into the Gulf of Mannar. Local farmers described how the project's abandonment had caused groundwater tables to plunge, forcing rural distress migration. Stalin gave a firm public pledge that an incoming DMK administration would revive the project with top priority, allocate necessary capital funds, and complete the canal network to turn the arid southern tracts green.