Water supply assured for agricultural areas:

Over 30,000 acres to benefit from Deduru Oya project

By P. Krishnaswamy

The Rs.9.5 Billion Deduru Oya Reservoir Project, now nearing completion, is the next in line to be commissioned under the ‘Mahinda Chintana' concept followed by the Rs.3,970 million multipurpose Rambakkan Oya Irrigation and Water Supply Project that was declared open by President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday, July 20. This major agricultural and rural development project will provide irrigation facilities to about 30,000 acres of arable lands situated in Yapahuwa, Wariyapola, Nikeweratiya, Panduwasnuwara, Bingiriya and Anamaduwa electoral districts.

About 15,000 agricultural families will be directly benefited under this project while about 50,000 families will be indirectly benefited. The storage capacity of the reservoir is 75 MCM. Of the estimated payment of compensation of Rs.1.8 billion to the 900 families who got displaced under the project, an amount of Rs.942 million has already been paid.

Infrastructure facilities to the people of the Maho, Wariyapola and Ganewaththa Divisional Secretariat divisions include road networks, electricity, schools and clean drinking water which will immensely contribute to the improvement of their quality of life. Everything, beginning from conducting the feasibility study to designing the various components of the reservoir construction, was done by engineers of the Irrigation Department and this is considered to be a unique achievement of the Sri Lankan engineers.

The RB sluice outlet

Completed section of the main dam

Construction in progress

The main problem hitherto faced by farmers in the Deduru Oya and Mee Oya basins is the non-availability of assured water supply for the agricultural areas since the basins are predominantly situated in the dry zone of the country. The water available with the rainfall and collected in the existing irrigation schemes is not sufficient for two season cultivation.

Seventy percent of annual rainfall in the Deduru Oya catchment flows to the ocean without being utilised in any way to serve the needs of the local population. As a result an optimal level of agricultural development has not been achieved. The Deduru Oya Reservoir project, on completion, will resolve all these problems while bringing many more benefits.

Director Eng. B. A. S. Sunil Perera expressed optimism that paddy cultivation in the zone will be increased many fold beginning from the forthcoming Yala season and the 2013/14 Maha season, with irrigation water to be released for the Left Bank main canal in October, followed by water release for the Right Bank main canal (up to Kiridigalla) in November. This will contribute to consolidating the national plan of food security in the country, he said. The project will attract a tourist flow to the project site and the surrounding settlement areas, he said.

The productivity of not only paddy but also other highland crops, including vegetables and fruits, will increase many fold contributing further to the socio-economic betterment of the agricultural families. About 700 families have already been resettled in other locations with allotment of land plots of half-an-acre to one acre.

Construction work in progress on the main sluice

While the entire work on the construction of the causeway has been completed, about 90 percent of the work on the main bund, the left bank sluice, the right bank sluice, the spillway and rip rap/toe/filter/turfing have been completed. The project will be commissioned in early 2014. Also the work on the Trans basin Canal, Maggalla Right Bank extension and 44 km LB canal have almost been completed. Up to end of last year the total amount spent under the project is Rs.7,000 Million while another Rs.2,500 Million is the estimated expenditure before the completion of the project, according to project authorities. The necessity of development programs for the benefit of the population of the dry zone and intermediary zones in Sri Lanka arose due to many reasons but mainly owing to the food security of the people. The lack of food security arose due to disruption of agrarian systems, land fragmentation, lack of irrigable land, indebtedness of the farmers and poor post-harvest technology.

The backbone of the population of the dry zone and the intermediary zones of Sri Lanka is based on agriculture with almost 85 percent of them depending on it for their livelihood. Nearly two-thirds of the land area of the country comes under the dry zone. The contribution that agriculture makes to household income has been declining and poverty and unemployment have been on the rise.

But there has been a marked progress in the production of rice and other crops under the Mahaveli Development programs and other multipurpose irrigation and water supply projects implemented under the ‘Mahinda Chintana’ concept.

The projects had also contributed to rural development and health care services to the poor and the needy. Several programs for the development and improvement of water resources in the dry zone and intermediary zones to ensure efficient and maximum utilization of the vastly available land resources in the areas are now under implementation.

The significant aspects of the Deduru Oya Reservoir project are: the length of the bund is 2,400 metres; the total land area coming under cultivation is 11,115 ha ; and the number of families getting benefits, including drinking water, is over 50,000. All all neighbouring areas will also be benefited through replenishment of ground water aquifers. The overall benefits encompass economic benefits and health benefits; enhancement of nutritional levels of the community; and social welfare facilities.