To stop wide spread renal diseases:

Large, medium scale water supply projects for NCP

Nimal Wijesinghe - Anuradhapura Additional District group correspondent

The Water Supply and Drainage Board will launch 14 large and medium scale water supply projects covering rural areas of the NCP. This is following President Mahinda Rajapaksa's instructions to Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardana to embark on a provincial-wide potable water supply programme in North Central Province.

NWSDB's North Central Deputy General Manager S. B. Ekanayake told Daily News that arrangements were being accelerated to begin construction work on several water supply projects in view of the wide spreading renal diseases in the province.

He pointed out that in addition to local funding, the NWSDB has been searching for doners and negotiating for foreign funding to complete the projects within the next five years.

He said the programme was of high national importance, since it had been found that ground water in kidney diseases spreading localities in the North Central Province contained arsenic and other heavy metal molecules poisonous to the health at a recent WHO research.

Once these water supply projects have been completed within the next five years, these can treat 178,800 cubic meters of water per day for consumption.

Ekanayake emphasized that with the understanding of the importance of potable and healthy drinking water the Water Supply and Drainage Ministry has proposed to launch a programme for providing only drinking and cooking water for the people of chronic kidney diseases prone areas such as Medawachchiya, Kebithigollewa, Padaviya, Rambawewa, Medirigiriya and Dimbulagala DS divisions at a cost of Rs. 100 million.