Tue Jul 08 14:23:58 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing the provided text:

**Coastal Communities in Tamil Nadu Plead for Access to Irrigation Water Amid Salinity Crisis**

**Tirunelveli, July 8, 2025** – Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu has formally requested Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to intervene and ensure that 15 coastal irrigation tanks in the Radhapuram constituency are integrated into the Radhapuram Channel irrigation system. The plea comes as residents in the coastal areas grapple with increasingly saline groundwater, threatening their access to clean drinking water.

In a memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister, Mr. Appavu detailed the historical context of the Radhapuram Channel, a 28.80 km waterway constructed in 1970 to divert surplus water from the Petchiparai dam and irrigate 15,987 acres through 52 tanks. Despite being designed to provide direct irrigation, the channel has frequently failed to deliver the full 150 cusecs of water stipulated, leading to persistent water scarcity.

While officials have at times supplied water to some tanks for drinking water needs, the 15 coastal tanks of Vijayapathi and Koodankulam have been excluded. Mr. Appavu argues that this exclusion has exacerbated the water crisis for coastal communities, as seawater intrusion has rendered their groundwater undrinkable.

The Speaker emphasized that the situation only saw improvement after Chief Minister Stalin assumed office in 2021, when 150 cusecs of water were released to 52 irrigation tanks in the Radhapuram area, but those 15 remain without access. He urged the Chief Minister to address the situation promptly, calling for immediate action to incorporate these 15 tanks as direct beneficiaries of the Radhapuram Channel system. This intervention, he asserted, is critical for the well-being of the fishermen and other residents who depend on these water sources.

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