Govt commences Menik Ganga Basin project

Uditha Kumarasinghe

COLOMBO: The Government has commenced construction work on the Menik Ganga Basin Development project (Veheragala Reservoir Project) estimated to cost Rs.1822.

The mega irrigation scheme is expected to provide a huge boost to the country's paddy cultivation.

The project is part of a pledge made in the Mahinda Chintana to provide farmers with an uninterrupted supply of water for their cultivation in the Yala and Maha seasons.

The mega irrigation project would bring under cultivation nearly 4000 hectares of paddy lands in the Kirindi Oya Irrigation and Settlement Project (KOISP) and another 270 hectares of lands in the Menik Ganga Basin benefitting over 5000 farmer families, an Irrigation Ministry spokesman told the Daily News yesterday.

Construction Work on this irrigation project which commenced in November last year is due to be completed next year, he said.

Under this project the Veheragala reservoir with a capacity of 75 million cubic meters is to be constructed across the Menik Ganga 18 Km upstream of Kataragama.

This will be a major step in the systematic development of water resources in this basin.

A volume of 60 million cubic meters of regulated water will be diverted from this source to the adjoining Lunugamvehera reservoir through a transbasin canal, to meet the water deficit in the KOISP.

Meanwhile, the project will ensure drinking water supplies to the Kataragama areas and benefit flora and fauna in the Yala National Park.

Downstream of the reservoir, water will be picked up by Kuda gal Amuna and Hanguna to feed 270 hectares of existing land, he said.