Tank renovations to benefit Mannar, H'tota farmers

by Ananda KANNANGARA

A tank renovation program to help the farmer community in the Mannar and Hambantota districts to cultivate over 150,000 hectares of paddy and other agricultural lands was launched by the Irrigation and Water Resources Management Ministry on a directive by Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva last week.

Under the first phase of the program, the Ministry hopes to carry out a survey on abandoned lakes in these districts that had neglected during the past several years.

Minister de Silva told the Sunday Observer that special attention will be focused on the renovation of a large number of small and medium scale tanks in the Mannar district as attention had not been paid by officials due to the security situation in the area.

He said after renovating the tanks in these districts, an irrigation project would be launched for the benefit of the farmer community and water would be provided to every agricultural land.

The Minister said there are over 500 abandoned tanks all over the country and the tank renovation program would also be extended to every other district soon.