Boon to farmers in the Dry Zone:

State land grants for Mahaweli families

by Jayampathy JAYASINGHE

Several families living in the Mahaweli zones will be granted State land deeds within the next few months so that they could claim ownership to land which they had been living since the inception of the accelerated Mahaweli project. The move has been delayed for years for some reason due to the cumbersome procedure of many departments involved in granting State land to settlers.

The Secretary to the Irrigation and the Mahaweli Authority Engineer Irvin Silva in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer said that they hope to grant lands to 35,000 settlers of the Mahaweli within the next six months.

Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister, Nimal Siripala de Silva is expected to distribute the deeds of these lands. The Minister is keen that the procedure is expedited to provide redress to a large number of families settled in the Mahaweli Zone.

The Secretary said of the 58,000 families, 35,000 families living in the Mahaweli Zone will be granted land deeds. The delay was due to several disputes arising among families already settled in the Mahaweli zone and in demarcating land owned by them by the Surveyor General's Department, a long and a cumbersome procedure that takes time. Meanwhile, steps will be taken by the Mahaweli Authority to grant land deeds to the remaining families in future.

Several countries and donor agencies have expressed willingness to provide funding for the Moragahakande and the Kalu Ganga projects. When completed these projects will provide water for cultivation of lands in the Dry Zone of the North Central Province and the Northern Province, a boon to many farmers. An agreement in this connection was expected to be signed with the Japanese government in March next year for a loan facility of US dollars 225 million for completion of the Kalu Ganga dam project.

The following countries have also pledged funding for the Moragahakanda and the Kalu Ganga projects. Kuwait (US dollars 37 million) Saudi Arabia (US dollars 46 million) and the OPEC (US dollars 15 million).

Secretary Silva said under the Kalu Ganga project some 2000 hectares have been reserved in Medirigiriya for re-settlement of families. These families have been displaced due to the construction of the Moragahakanda and the Kalu Ganga projects. The re-settlement work is currently being jointly carried out by the Mahaweli Authority and the Irrigation Department.

Around 800-900 rehabilitated families are expected to be re-settled in the Weli-Oya area. "Although people have vacated their lands in the Weli-Oya area due to the LTTE threats in the past, plans are afoot to re-settle some rehabilitated families. The re-settled families will be taught the state-of-the-art in growing commercially viable crops to enhance their income potential. "We have set up model farms in Walawe, Mahagamuwa and Thambuttegama and in other zones as well to teach farmers in growing commercially viable crops using modern technology.

Meanwhile, 8,000 hectares of land in the northern province not cultivated during the past two decades was cultivated in the Yala season resulting in a bumper harvest.

The Mahaweli Authority plans to cultivate 8,000 acres of abandoned lands in Vavuniya and in Mannar areas during the next Maha season in November. Under the peace project the Mahaweli Authority and the Irrigation Department plans to rehabilitate selected water tanks in the Anuradhapura and Kurunegala areas. The Japanese government has funded the project which is estimated to cost Rs. 5,000 million.

A 60 - metre high wall will be built across Kalu Ganga along with two saddle dams to conserve water flowing from Matale to irrigate 2,000 hectares of land and to re-settle 2,000 displaced families due to the construction of the Kalu Ganga project. The excess water will be diverted along a channel to Amban-Ganga in the Moragahakanda area.

The Moragahakanda and the Kalu Ganga are the largest irrigation development projects undertaken by the State following the accelerated Mahaweli program in 1977.

The project will provide irrigation facilities to settlers and also provide 20 MW of hydro power to the districts of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Matale and Trincomalee in the Dry Zone.

The Secretary also said although the budgetary allocation for the year was Rs 2,388 million, the treasury released Rs. 1,058 million till end of December 2009. The monies have been utilised for surveying, construction of access roads, building bridges across Ambanganga and Kalu Ganga, the construction of office buildings and saddle dam of No 2 of the Moragahakanda reservoir and rehabilitation of seven village tanks in the proposed re-settlement areas.

The total investment made in the Mahaweli Development Programme up to the end of December 2009 was Rs 98 billion. Paddy production in the Mahaweli areas in 2009 was 680,028 metric tonnes which accounts for about 19 percent of the domestic paddy production. Apart from this 6,505 metric tonnes of inland fish and 19.7 million litres of milk and 2.6 million eggs were produced in the Mahaweli area during 2009.

Mahaweli reservoirs have produced 1,238 GWs of electricity in 2009 worth over Rs. 16.218 billion. The Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management Nimal Siripala de Silva has had discussions with ministry officials to commence a tourism promotion program by utilising the Mahaweli reservoirs. The program's master plan is to provide boat rides to local and foreign tourists in the Mahaweli reservoirs.

The Minister has already instructed the Mahaweli Authority officials to commence work on this project in the Victoria, Kotmale, Randenigala and in the Maduru-Oya reservoirs. Although such a plan was in place to promote tourism in the past due to the security situation in the country, it was put on hold.

The Mahaweli authority will take steps initially to operate boat rides at Randenigala reservoir at a nominal fee. Tourists taking boat rides in the Randenigala reservoir will get the opportunity to view wildlife in the Randenigala -Victoria wildlife sanctuary which is in close proximity. So is the Maduru Oya reservoir being in close proximity to the Maduru-Oya wildlife sanctuary.

The Mahaweli Authority will seek the assistance of the Sri Lanka Navy in September to train boatmen in this connection. Farmers who live in the vicinity of these areas are encouraged to participate in this venture to supplement their income.

Minister Siripala De Silva has directed the Mahaweli Authority to organise a luxury bus service from starclass hotels in Kandy, Dambulla and Polonnaruwa so that tourists could visit these areas. The Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka has approved a project to build house boats by an Indian company for inland water bodies in Nuwara Eliya.