6 February 2021 12:08 am
The statement said the canal would be built under the first phase of the North Central Province Maha Ela Project, in parallel to the ‘Vari Saubhagya’ (Irrigation Prosperity) programme to rehabilitate 5,000 tanks. The North Central Province Maha Ela Project is being implemented as the 6th and final phase of the Mahaweli Development Scheme.
The objective of the project is to divert water from Moragahakanda and Kalu Ganga reservoirs to Rajarata and is designed as an eco-friendly development programme. Excess water from Moragahakanda and Kalu Ganga reservoirs is carried to Yakalla along a 65 km long canal. 03 sanctuaries have to be passed through when constructing the canal. An Irrigation tunnel is being constructed in order to prevent damage to the environment and wildlife. The President has instructed the relevant officials to complete the North Central Province Maha Ela project, which was earlier scheduled to be completed in six years, within the next four years, by 2025. The cost of the tunnel, funded by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Asian Development Bank, is US $ 244 million.
The lack of safe drinking water has been a major reason for poverty and kidney disease of the people living in the North Central, Northern and Eastern Provinces. After the completion of the project, 25,000 families in 13 Divisional Secretariat Divisions in the North Central Province will be benefited. It is expected to cultivate 43,000 hectares during the Yala and Maha seasons by supplying water to 1200 small tanks.
The inauguration ceremony to mark the construction work of North Central Province Maha Ela Irrigation Tunnel under the “Irrigation Prosperity’’ was held at Mahamigaswewa, Anuradhapura.