HSBC invests Rs. 100 mn for global water programme

H.D.H Senewirathe

HSBC entered into a strategic partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to help restore a traditional cascade tank system in Kapirigama in the Anuradhapura district. This would be done in accordance to socio-economic, ecological and spiritual beliefs.

IUCN Sri Lanka's acting Country Representative Shamen Vidanage, said that this project would give people access to water, enhanced agriculture, rural livehoods and environmental services in Sri Lanka.

CEO Nick Nicolaou and Shamen Vidanage at the event     Picture by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa

“The restoration project would be carried out over a span of three years, with the help of the Department of Agrarian Development (DAD), the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Irrigation, the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, the Department of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Peradeniya, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and key local governing bodies and farmer cooperative societies,” he said at a media conference.

Vidanage noted that it is a unique and a traditional mechanism which started back in the 4th century B.C. It was used for over a period of 2,500 years to capture rainwater, so that such water could be used during the dry season to avoid floods and help society for everyday living.

HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives CEO Nick Nicolaou said, water has become a scarce resource which needs efficient management in order to provide communities with proper irrigation facilities for daily survival – be it in rural or urban expanses. “We are happy to partner with IUCN and invest in a project that would vastly benefit over 60,000 people with access to safe water for day to day living and livelihood development.

It is also a great opportunity for us to be involved in the physical rehabilitation of a tank cascade system that would assist in economic up liftment,” he said. Nicolaou said that their funds were sufficient for the entire restoration projects, which would take place three years hence.

Vidanage asserted that families living in the Kapirigama area would have access to steady supply of water throughout the year, which would boost Sri Lankan cultivation. It would also provide access to freshwater for domestic purposes, groundwater management and conservation, sustainable management of natural habitats and the biodiversity they support and the development of livelihoods.

He also revealed that many such systems had been abandoned or not restored due to political, historical or institutional reasons.

With this project under their belt, HSBC and IUCN would work on restoring 10 tanks out of the 17 existing tanks. However, Vidanage stated that if the feasibility study shows in the future that all 17 tanks could be restored, they would go ahead and restore them.