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Drought in Nuwara Eliya wreaks havoc among farming community
The present drought conditions experienced in the country has adversely affected the farming community in Nuwara Eliya. Farmers complain they are experiencing serious crop damage. Nuwara Eliya is known as the fruit and vegetable bowl of the country, and it’s produce is transported to other parts of the island.
The tourist industry in the area too has also been subject to the travails consequent to the drought. More than 10,000 local and foreign tourists regularly visit the area during weekends and the drought has caused a serious shortage of drinking water.
The farming community has been especially hard hit. Farmers are extremely critical at what they claim has been various badly planned or unplanned development schemes implemented in the area.
They point out to the clearing of wooded areas to facilitate the construction of communication towers, large scale clearing of forest land to facilitate the cultivation of potatoes and pinus crops which resulted in the loss of wind breaks in the hill country. They allege these unplanned development schemes led to the present drought conditions.
Had JICA not constructed tube wells in the area 15 years ago, the situation would have been much worse farmers emphasised.
It is the water drawn from these tube wells they said, that is being transported to villages by the Nuwara Eliya Municipality on a rotation basis and has eased the situation to a certain extent.
K.J. Ananda Silva a resident of Hava Eliya in Nuwara Eliya said, though the Lovers Leap Water Fall is in the vicinity, they still faced difficulties in obtaining sufficient drinking water. He stressed the need for a proper water management system in the area.  
Municipal Commissioner Nuwara Eliya, R.M.K. Ruwan, said long-term and short-term plans are currently underway in order to manage the situation during dry weather conditions. He accepted the need for a proper system of water management, so-as-to meet needs during the dry season when water levels in major reservoirs run low.
He said a long-term plan to construct a large reservoir in the vicinity of the ‘Lovers Leap’ waterfall was under way, and feasibility studies had already been finalised.
