Online edition of Daily News

Felled trees from the mountains at makeli Ella under preparation for transportation.

Rumours were afloat that a foreign company was involved in environmentally harmful activities in and around the Kululeganga Hydro-Power Project area. But an inspection there not only proved that these rumours are baseless, but also that some locals have a hand in these unlawful activities.

Before the commencement of the Hydro Power Project, this area was merely a hamlet which had no access to the outer world except through footpaths. Village folk who were few and far between had to trudge several miles to reach Palanda to get a connecting bus to Agalawatte town. Outsiders, too, had no connection whatsoever with these humble folk in this far flung Kukulegana area.

Infrastructure development for the project paved way for good quality roads which in turn, opened the flood gates to all what is taking place today in broad daylight. Travelling along these well-paved access roads, we saw heaps of valuable logs piled up at several points by the side of the road.

Sedimentation Pond: Effluent water from the tunnels pass through these ponds (available at each tunnel portal) for chemical and physical treatment prior to discharge to theMakeli Dola.

Some trucks were seen moving out of the area laden with timber while another was spotted with logs ready to take off for an unknown destination.

These logs were once majestic astonia, rambuttan or jak trees that had adorned the lush vegetation of the area. I wondered whether there would be large trees at all in these forests in another five years.

Newly constructed houses, especially make-shift ones, were also seen along the river bank and also on hill tops. Their sewage disposal, too has been at its elementary level, we observed.

Indiscriminate felling of trees with or without necessary permits here will definitely lead to soil erosion in the near future. Instances of streams and waterways being dried up have also been highlighted in newspapers in recent times. Construction of houses along the river bank without proper sanitation, too, will have a direct bearing on the river water. These are the so-called necessary evils or negative fall out from the development taking place in this part of Sri Lanka. These environmentally harmful but, perhaps, people friendly activities need to be restricted if not stopped entirely.

What we saw, on the contrary, few metres away made us hide our faces in shame. Here, the foreign contractor Skanska Company truly exhibited its genuine concern for the protection of environment in keeping with an environmental management system in accordance with Environment Management Certification of ISO/14001 - which is internationally accredited. Kukuleganga Hydro Power Project, being the only hydro power generation project outside the main catchment area, is called the 'run of the river' project. This project is on the Kukule Ganga, a tributary of Kaluganga - which is one of the major rivers in Sri Lanka. It is located in the historic Palindanuwara area, bordering Kalutara and Ratnapura Districts.

Project works got under way three years ago and scheduled to be commissioned in March next year. The project has the capacity to generate 70 Mw electricity which is equal to 7 per cent of the present power demand.

Power generated here will go directly via 27 km long transmission line to Matugama sub station where it joins the national grid.

A comprehensive inspection around the Adit 1, 2 portals, main access portal and Junior Staff Camp areas revealed that the contractors have made every conceivable effort to minimise the impact of construction activities on the environment. Maintenance of sanitation here has been at a highly impressive level in keeping with the ideals of these contractors. An advanced inbuilt system here includes sedimentation tanks, sewage treatment plants and septic tanks. These sedimentation tanks constructed at underground portals are used to treat the tunnel effluent water both physically and chemically. The effluent water collected at these sedimentation tanks will settle at the first compartment and the floating oil layers are separated and stored at the waste oil yard. This way only clean water is allowed via T shaped pipes to the second compartment and purified water is discharged into the Makeliya Dola.

Septic tanks are found at Junior Staff Camp, main office, switch yard area and also at Adit 2 portals. These tanks are designed in a manner meet the required sewage load and to settle the sewage properly. These tanks are disinfected by chlorine continuously and the effluent water is passed through an infiltration bed. Finally this effluent water, without any obnoxious adour and coliforms, end up in water courses. Compared to the flow rate of the Makeliya Dola and Kukuleganga river, this causes a very minute impact on the environment. We were also told that Kukuleganga river and Makeliya Dola waters are monitored every month by an independent authority - The Industrial Technology Institute, formerly the CISIR. An established waste management programme is also in operation at the Skanska site. Diesel storage tanks are placed on concrete slabs with a sump connected to an oil separator with surrounding walls to prevent leakage if any. Storage of waste oil and batteries is also done in the same manner. Separation of glass, plastic and paper materials was also observed. At present, hydro power electricity is the cheapest type of energy produced in Sri Lanka.

The demand for this pollution free source of power is ever on the increase while the avenues and potential for generating this power is extremely limited and subject to never-ending controversies. In view of the greater importance and priority attached to this sector, hydro power projects like Kukuleganga Project in the South, deserve to be given every encouragement.

At the same time degradation of environment under cover of development, which was not present here, should also be discouraged.