Headwork construction to be launched mid-2019 | Daily News
Lower Malwathu Oya Project:

Headwork construction to be launched mid-2019

The Malwathu Oya.
The Malwathu Oya.

The construction of the headwork for the the proposed Lower Malwathu Oya Project, had been planned to be commissioned in mid-2019. This was disclosed at the Lower Malwathu Oya Reservoir Project progress review committee meeting that was recently held at the Anuradhapura Kachcheri Auditorium with the participation of Anuradhapura Government Agent R. M. Wanninayake.

Senior officers representing the government and irrigation, survey, wildlife, forest conservation, archaeology and assessor departments, were present at the meeting.

It was disclosed that around 40,000 acres of land in both the Mannar and Anuradhapura districts, would be provided with adequate irrigation water throughout the year, once the proposed reservoir has been completed by 2021.Project Director Engineer T. P. Alwis said that currently, surveying of the demarcation of high flood-level areas had been completed and the surveying of the estimated 4,000 hectares of land that would be submerged due to the proposed reservoir, was scheduled to be carried out in May. Subsequently, a socio-economic survey in relation to resettlement would be carried out as well.

"The Malwathu Oya basin of which the capacity is 3,246 square-kilometres, is the second largest river basin in the country. The reservoir was built having constructed a 3.6-km long main dam across the Mahaweli river at the Bogoda village in the Thanthirimale area. Around 35,000 acres of existing paddy lands will receive sufficient water for cultivation activities related to both the Yala and Maha Seasons," Alwis said.

"The two sluices of the proposed reservoir would permit a continuous flow of 35 cubic-feet of water per second and of that, a volume of 18 cubic-feet of water would be supplied to the Malwathu Oya. The maximum height of the main dam is 72.9 feet, whereas the water capacity is 169,000 acre-feet. The estimated cost for the completion of the project is Rs. 12.5 billion," Alwis added.

Project Land Officer M. A. M. Wimal said that already, a landscape spanning 528 acres had been identified for the resettlement of families being evacuated, while lands spanning to a total of 1,200 acres in the Sooriya Thenna and Handapangoda divisions, had been selected as alternative paddy lands.

Hence, the Wildlife and the Forest Conservation Departments had been requested to release the said lands. The land officer said President Maithripala Sirisena had given instructions to finalise the resettlement arrangements, with housing and relevant infrastructural facilities provided before the construction work of the reservoir project commences. Meanwhile, wildlife authorities said at the committee meeting, that since new settlement colonies are currently emerging near the Wilpattu area, it was likely that elephant corridors would be affected as wild elephants frequent the areas between Mahakanadarawa and the Wilpattu National Park.

It was revealed that there were 36 monuments of archaeological and historic value within the project site and that the moveable monuments would be handed over to museums within the Thanthirimale area.

It was also learnt that there is a current lack of funds to complete the prerequisites of the project and hence, additional funds had been requested. So far, only Rs. 50 million had been allocated for the ongoing work. In addition, investigations are currently underway to scrutinise whether any portion of the proposed landscapes selected for resettlement, would fall under the category of High Conservation Value Areas (HCVAs).

 


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