Five years of development - Kandy district:

On the fast track to rejuvenation

by Ranil Wijayapala

The serene mountains coupled with Sri Lanka’s much venerated religious icon the Sri Dalada Maligawa are symbols, of the district of Kandy, which has become the focal point of the central hills due to its historical, religious, political and geographical importance.

The historically important Gadaladeniya temple, Ambekka devalaya, important education institutions like Peradeniya university, the famous botanical garden Peradeniya and above all the world heritage city, Kandy adds more value to this district through which Sri Lanka’s longest river, Mahaweli flows.

One time it was a stronghold of Lanka’s premier political party United National Party with many political heavyweights hailing from this historically important district to mainstream politics to represent this multi ethnic and multi religious district.

But, this former stronghold of the United National Party is now transforming into a stronghold of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party with many people rallying round the ruling party which had opened up a speedy path to development in the district.

Many political leaders from the UNP are now strengthening the hands of the President having understood the fact that it was only under the leadership of the President that they can bring in real development to the Kandy district.

Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama who leads Kandy district UPFA candidates at the forthcoming general election is confident that the people would give a big mandate for the ruling UPFA considering the contribution the Government has made to the development of the district.

“The Government was able to clear bottlenecks that hindered speedy development in the district by linking the Kandy inner city with the other parts of the country, constructing and improving the existing bridges across the Mahaweli river”, the Minister said commenting on the way the Government took an initiative to develop the Kandy district.

The huge traffic congestion which prevailed earlier when entering the Kandy city is no more with reconstruction of the Katugastota bridge.

The UPFA government undertook the task of rehabilitating the Katugastota bridge which links the Kandy-Jaffna Road across the Mahaweli River near Kandy Town. The bridge which is 130 meters in length and 20 meters in width will have four lanes. The entire project costs Rs. 405.5 million.

The project commenced in 2007 was expedited under the instruction of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was inaugurated in January 2010 easing the heavy traffic congestion along Kandy-Jaffna main road.

Minister Dr. Amunugama says the construction of these new bridges across the Mahaweli river helped develop the left bank of the Mahaweli river.

Therefore, the building of bridges during the last four years, construction of bridges in parallel to road development was given a prominent place in the Kandy district.

Building of a bridge across the Mahaweli river on Gampola-Nuwara Eliya road, Getambe bridge on Getambe-Gannoruwa road, Katugastota bridge on Kandy-Jaffna road, Ulapane bridge on Ulapane-Pussellawa road are prime example. The cost was Rs. 500 million for Gampola bridge, Rs. 90 million for the Getambe bridge, Rs. 400 million for Katugastota bridge, and Rs. 75 million for the Ulapane bridge.

Although the Kandy district is blessed with water resources, lack of drinking water had become one of the burning issues.

The UPFA government has been able to address the drinking water problem throughout the past few years implementing drinking water projects throughout the Greater Kandy area.

According to officials nearly 55,000 households in the Kandy area will enjoy an improved supply of water when Stage 2 of Phase 1 of the Greater Kandy Water Supply Project now under construction is completed in 2012.

Around 14,300 of the beneficiary households are in the Kandy Municipal Council area while the balance 40,600 outside.

In the next few months, about 5,000 households in the KMC area and an additional 5,000 outside the KMC in Ampitiya, Elhena, Galtenna, Meekanuwa and Mullepihilla will get either new water connections or an augmented supply under existing connections.

The Greater Kandy Water Supply Project is a three phase long term project funded by Japan. It is designed to supply water to a population of 700,000 people living in 7 Divisional Secretariat divisions, namely Patha Dumbara, Gangawata Korale, Akurana, Pujapitiya, Harispattuwa, Kundasale and a part of Patha Hewaheta.

Stage 1 of Phase 1 of the Project commenced in 1998 and was completed two years ago. It cost about $60 million.

Stage 2 of Phase I is estimated to cost about $33 million. When completed in September 2012 it will benefit residents of Akurana, Pujapitiya, Harispattuwa, Patha Dumbara and Gangawata Korale.

According to Minister Amunugama the Government has also given attention towards implementing the Kandy City Waste Disposal Project since the indiscriminate disposal of waste water in Kandy city causes pollution of the Kandy lake, Meda Ela and finally Mahaweli River , the main drinking water source to Kandy and Matale districts.

“In order to find a permanent solution to this NWSDB has proposed to implement a waste water disposal system for Kandy city with financial assistance from the Government of Japan”, Minister Amunugama added.

The proposed project intends to collect waste water in 724 hectares of the city and divert it to a treatment plant of capacity 17,000 m 3 /d through a network of 50 km long pipelines.

The main objective of this project is to provide new waste water disposal facilities to 49,700 people in Kandy Municipal area. The total estimated cost is Rs. 4,100 million. Apart from solving the basic issues that affect the people of the Kandy district the Government has also aimed at connecting the hill capital with the commercial and administrative capital of the country through an expressway. The Government plans to implement this highway project at a cost of Rs. 65,000 million. The project comprises of a 100 km, four-lane express way between Colombo and Kandy, with connection to the Outer Circular Road at Kadawata.

“The construction of the Colombo Kandy express way will undoubtedly clear the path for the rapid development of the Kandy district”, Dr. Amunugama added.

Among the projects being implanted is the gigantic project of the well known 18 hairpin bend curve Kandy-Mahiyangana Road. Work on the construction of this road was commenced in 2008 and the estimated expenditure will be Rs. 4800 million. This dual carriage highway with a width of 8.25M is scheduled to be completed in 2011. Assistance for this project is provided by the Asian Development Bank.

According to officials no previous government showed any interest in developing this road. It is not a secret that this negligence glaringly affected the economy of the country.

Minister Amunugama also emphasises the fact that since the 30-year LTTE terror has ended, Sri Lanka can now concentrate on rapid development.

“Sri Lanka can undoubtedly be transferred into the miracle of Asia, if we take the correct decisions at this Juncture”, he said.

He said the district of Kandy will be a beneficiary of the eradication of terrorism as thousands of tourists are thronging this tourist attraction.

“The tourism industry in the Kandy district is blossoming after the creation of a peaceful atmosphere in the country”, he added.

He says that the small and medium industries like pottery and silver carvings in the district will also benefit from this situation. The Government has also paid attention towards improving the industrial sector in the district with aim of solving unemployment in the district.

“The Kundasale industrial zone was established with the aim of providing a solution to this problem”, Dr. Amunugama added.

The Government has also focused attention towards improving the electricity supply in the district. According to statistics, the domestic electricity supply in the district was increased by 93% catering to 325,000 households in 2008.

In hilly and remote areas where it is difficult to supply electricity through power lines, electricity to around 522 families was provided through solar panels. In order to fulfil the electricity requirements of rural masses, several rural electrification schemes were implemented during the last two years in areas such as Hewaheta, Udugama, Atabage, Hulugaha, Teldeniya, and Gidawa.

Nine small scale Hydro Power Projects were established in the district which provides 19.2 megawatts of power to the National Grid. The government spent Rs. 330.88 million to develop electricity requirements of the Kandy district. With the objective of improving education facilities alone, the government spent Rs. 320.27 million in the district last year.

“Therefore, we are confident that the UPFA will be able to secure eight seats out of the 12 seats allocated to the district at the general election and secure majority votes than at the Presidential election”, Dr. Amunugama added.