TIRUNELVELI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the Thamirabarani-Nambiyar-Karumeniyar river-linking project would take one more year for completion. Citing issues being faced by the government in acquiring land as the cause of the delay, Palaniswami said that the project that would help irrigate 23,040 hectares of farmland in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts would be ready for inauguration by December 2021.
“The State government has allotted Rs 160 crore for the fourth phase works of the river-linking project. Nearly Rs 623 crore has been spent so far,” he said. During the Nanguneri by-election campain, AIADMK leaders, including the CM, had promised to complete the project by December 2020.
He also announced that the State government has allotted Rs 41.8 crore for the Jambunathi Scheme that will help bring surplus water in Ramnathi dam to the rain-fed villages of Alangulam Taluk. Palaniswami further said that the new arts and science colleges in Alangulam and Sankarankovil would start functioning this year and that the State government would release fund for the construction of the college located in Radhapuram. “The State government has allotted Rs 10 crore to get medical equipment for Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital and Rs 21 crore for the Regional Cancer Centre to purchase a linear accelerator.