T.N. Assembly election: residents of Tiruttani constituency seek more support to improve their livelihood

Hundreds of power looms clatter and hum all day long to make cotton lungis and saris in this Assembly constituency, home to the hill temple of Sri Subramaniaswami in Tiruttani. These are part of a larger powerloom cluster spread across Arakkonam and Sholingur.

The number of stalls in Murugur, which is about 3 kilometers away from the district centre, has decreased in the last few years. “In 2000, many weavers switched from handloom to power loom. Since I am old, I prefer to buy the thread and paavu from a company, stitch the lungi and get paid ₹14 per metre. I cannot afford to produce and sell these on my own. I also do not have the money to convert the loom to weave saris,” he said.

A local politician said that apart from 1,000 units of free electricity provided to each power loom, there are no government projects for weavers here. “There is a zari factory in Kancheepuram and there are shops selling saris. Here, truck drivers who need the most lungs visit the weavers’ homes, which serve as production centres, to buy the garment. The more enterprising among the weavers sell their products in nearby markets.”

In Tiruttani, the life of the residents is intertwined with the temple. Jamuna, a tailor and single mother of three children, said it would be beneficial for her to buy a pedal-less sewing machine and asked the temple administration to fix a separate darshan time slot for residents.

growing crowds

“After the pandemic, devotees started coming to the temple in large numbers. Like other temples, I would like to request a specific time slot for Tiruttani residents.” He added that small ponds in residential areas like Murugur should not be filled.

Ravikanth, a devotee from Andhra Pradesh, said crowd management at the temple was quite poor. “The queues are poorly organized here. I visited the temple on an ordinary non-festival Thursday but the arrangements were not satisfactory. It is fortunate that there was no stampede. I visit Swamimalai once a year for a festival. The crowd is managed better there,” he said.

There are only a few suitable accommodations for visitors in town, and these have recently opened on National Highway 716. You can see devotees sleeping on the roadside in front of the entrance of the hill.

Work on laying a second access road to the temple has not yet been completed and land acquisition is still ongoing. Residents said car parking and traffic management are problems that need to be solved.

Apart from weaving, farming is another important occupation in the Assembly constituency. Farmers grow paddy (three harvests), sugarcane, groundnut and millet in areas like Tiruttani and RK Pettai.

“Only in the last two years, we started growing millets after forming a farmer-producer organisation. But we still do not have machinery to process the crop. We would be happy if the irrigation tanks are deepened so that we do not need to depend on borewells. We need online facilities to market our produce,” said farmer Venkatesan N., part of Tiruttani Young Generation Farmer Producer Company Limited.

“All of our managers are under 35 years of age. We are adding value to traditional rice varieties. We want young farmers to be given more training,” he added.

The constituency, traditionally an AIADMK stronghold, saw DMK win the seat in 2021.

Apart from Tiruttani, Pallipattu and Podhanur are the major cities and the constituency consists of Tiruttani, RK Pettai, Pallipattu and parts of Thiruvalangadu.

drinking water chart

Former MLA Chief Minister Narasimhan said he implemented a drinking water scheme worth Rs 149 crore in his constituency during his tenure from 2016-21 and got a bypass constructed at a cost of Rs 34 crore.

“People were suffering without a drinking water plan. So I helped start the city bus service,” he said.

Residents are now demanding better street lights, the construction of a railway overbridge and the closure of the railway gate within the town, the rapid completion of drainage construction works and the improvement of municipal solid waste management.

It was published – 23 March 2026 01:02 IST