Tug-of-war for Rajanganaya Project continues | Daily News

Tug-of-war for Rajanganaya Project continues

As a result of the tug-of-war between the Irrigation Ministry, City Planning and Water Supply Ministry and Rajangane farmer organisations, consequent to recent farmers’ protests in the Thambuttegama town, the realisation of the proposed Thambuttegama Drinking Water Supply Project had been hindered.

Following the said protests opposing the proposal to utilise water from the Rajanganaya reservoir to feed the project, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) suspended all proceedings of the drinking water project on the directions of Anuradhapura Government Agent R. M. Wanninayake.

However, at present, as the Anuradhapura GA had withdrawn his directive, the matter has been left to be settled among the concerned parties.

The Chinese Government had offered a loan valued at Rs. 19 billiob for the project and on November 27, 2014, Cabinet approval had been granted for the project. The construction work of the said project had been granted to China Engineers Ltd. and the contractor was offered a 20-percent advance prior to the initiation of the construction work related to the water purification plant.

The proposed water source, the Rajanganaya reservoir, possesses a capacity of 85,000 acre-feet. The Irrigation Department Director-General, in his letter dated March 24, 2015 and bearing No. 7000/WM/MS/ANU, had granted approval for the intake of 44,000 acre-feet of water per year from the said tank. This approval had been re-confirmed at a progress review meeting held at the Irrigation Department Secretary’s office on January 12, 2018. 


Add new comment