Around 80 farmers were detained by Thoothukudi district police after they blocked the Thoothukudi-Palayamkottai highway at Thattaparai junction. The farmers were protesting over the non-release of irrigation water to tail-end areas covered by the northern canal, or vadakaal, system of the Srivaikuntam irrigation network. The road blockade affected traffic on the busy four-lane highway as the farmers sought immediate action from authorities.

The protesters said farmers in the tail-end portions of the irrigation system were facing difficulties because adequate water had not reached their fields. They demanded that water be released through the canal so that agricultural activities could continue in areas dependent on the irrigation network. The demonstration was organised to draw attention to what the farmers described as an urgent water requirement for cultivation.

The protest took place at Thattaparai junction, an important point on the highway connecting Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli. With the road blocked, the demonstration disrupted the movement of vehicles along the route. Police personnel reached the location and detained the protesting farmers to clear the highway and restore traffic movement.

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The farmers maintained that ensuring water reaches the tail-end areas is essential for protecting agricultural activity in the region. They sought intervention from the concerned authorities and demanded that the irrigation supply be managed in a manner that ensures farmers located at the end of the canal system are not deprived of their share of water.

The Srivaikuntam irrigation system supports agricultural areas in parts of the Thoothukudi region, making the availability and distribution of canal water an important issue for farming communities. Disputes or shortages in water release can particularly affect tail-end farmers, who depend on adequate flows through the canal network to sustain their crops.

The detention of the farmers came as authorities moved to end the highway blockade and restore normal traffic. The protest has once again highlighted concerns among farming communities over equitable irrigation-water distribution. The farmers' demand centred on ensuring water reaches the tail-end areas under the Srivaikuntam northern canal system and that cultivation is not affected by inadequate supply.

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