News
Save Gregory’s Lake from turning into a puddle
Gregory’s Lake, one of the country’s most scenic beauty spots, has been reduced to a puddle and is in danger of drying up. The lake bund near the culvert is leaking and this has caused a massive reduction in the volume of water in the lake.
This situation was highlighted in the media earlier and the Nuwara Eliya municipal council allocated Rs. 175,000 to the Irrigation Department to repair the breach in the bund.
Today however, despite the source of the leaks being identified, the repairs have not yet been successfully completed and there is still very little water in the lake.
In view of the deteriorating situation, the municipality has called for voluntary public participation to speed up repairs and made a further allocation of Rs. 350,000 toward expenditure on the project.
However the Irrigation Department has indicated that it may take another two months to complete repairs to the bund.
Gregory’s Lake was constructed in 1874, during the British colomnial period The then Governor allocated 1,200 sterling pounds to construct the lake to beautify the hill country. Thirty hectares of land was also allocated for the purpose.
By 1912 mini hydro electric schemes were in operation using waters from the Talagala Oya and Nau Oya streams that connected to Gregory’s Lake in Nuwara Eliya which generated power to neighbouring areas.
The lake also served as a source of livelihood to sections of the population living adjacent to the lake.
Irrigation workers attending to repairs
Even today Gregory’s Lake is one of the island’s most attractive tourist destinations in addition to being an environment reservation.