Bamboo shoots to 'dam' river erosion

by Anura Maitipe

The river banks conservation program was launched at a cost of Rs. 1700 million on the directives of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to overcome massive erosion of river banks in the country, Mahaweli Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena said after launching the project in Kandy.

The project has been implemented with financial assistance from the Chinese Government. Under this project 15 million bamboo shoots will be planted along the banks of 103 main rivers. This will cover a distance of over 11,000 kilometres. A recent survey conducted by the Geological Department of Peradeniya University had warned that unless immediate steps were taken to arrest sand-mining main bridges, Daduruoya bridge on Colombo-Vavuniya road, Kelaniya bridge on Colombo-Kandy road, Kaduwela bridge on Kaduwela-Kandy road, Mannampitiya bridge on Colombo-Batticaloa road, Walawe bridge on Colombo-Kataragama road, Nilwala bridge on Colombo-Matara road and the new bridge over Gin ganga at Wakwella will be in danger of collapse.

With the planting of bamboo trees, further erosion could be prevented. And this will also put a stop to infiltration of non organic matter and salt water.

The country needs over 8 million cubes of sand annually for civil construction works. Out of this 4 million for construction sites in the Colombo city alone and to meet this demand, sand is mined along Kelani River, Kalu Ganga and Maoya. The balance used for construction in other parts of the country is obtained from Mahaweli River, Nilwala Ganga, Gin ganga, Walawe Ganga, Daduruoya and Kirindi Oya. Excessive use of backhoe machines to clear forest reservations along the river banks, is another major cause for concern.

With mushrooming of multi-storeyed buildings and highways there has been a great demand for sand and the big time businessmen bulldoze their way into the river with machines.

The Kelani, Kalu, Gin, Nilwala and the Walawe rivers are the main five rivers which provide drinking water to most parts of the country. The mass excavation of sand has allowed flow of sea water into the rivers and this create scarcity of drinking water.

The Ministry of Urban Development and Water Supply has taken the initiative to supply 500,000 cubes of sea sand at a low cost as an alternative measure to protect rivers.