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Uma Oya: Moving from crisis to calamity
The suffering the people of Bandarawela undergo due to the controversial Uma Oya Project appears to be reaching calamitous proportions. Within the last week alone, 43 more houses were added to the official list of damaged houses. The water scarcity becomes more acute with each passing day, while the speedy solution the authorities have promised seems a pipe dream.
Tunneling to disaster. Pic by Indika Handuwala
Bandarawela’s Divisional Secretary Nihal Gunaratne said the number of houses which had suffered extensive damage increased to 2970 from 2927 last week, while complaints about cracks on walls and wells going dry kept pouring in. “The task of collecting information is becoming more difficult,” he said, underlining the gravity of the crisis.
The official said land had been obtained from Creg Estate to build houses for the affected people. Compensation had already been paid to 1,360 families, and 31 more families would receive compensation soon, he said.
The Sunday Times learns that the people are not happy about the compensation scheme because they believe the valuation officers come up with estimates lower than the actual damage.
Mr. Gunaratne said some people who were not happy about the valuation did not come to collect their compensation. They wanted to appeal, but there was no appealing process in the scheme, he said. “We have been instructed to finish paying compensation before August 17,” he said.
Asked about the water crisis, the divisional secretary said the requirement was at least 900,000 litres a day but the people receive only about 500,000 litres. He said the Railways Department had agreed to provide a train to transport water bowers to the affected areas, following a Cabinet decision.
The Cabinet has also approved the construction of six large underground wells in suitable places after conducting a proper study. The Cabinet has also decided to give water tanks to those who have not received them, send 20 tractor-bowsers from the Home Affairs Ministry to the Badulla District Secretariat and accelerate the compensation process.
Among the other measures the Government is taking are: Setting up of an office of the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) in the area to monitor the situation, provision of Rs. 100 million to the Uva Provincial Council to rehabilitate the damaged road, allocation of more funds in next year’s national budget to expedite the construction of the proposed water supply scheme for Bandarawela, releasing Rs. 100 million to reconstruct affected small reservoirs and granting to the affected families the ownership of the lands where they are to be resettled.
The Sunday Times also spoke to the National Water Supply and Drainage Board to find out about measures it had taken to ease the water crisis in Bandarawela. Its chairman K.A. Ansar said board had deployed as many bowsers as it could, but the issue was finding water sources, from which to fill them.
“We are surveying the Haputale and Welimada areas to build large wells, but these projects will take at least three years to complete,” he said. At present, some areas in Bandarawela and Badulla get pipe-borne water from a newly built water plant.
Mr. Ansar said that NWSDB was ready to supply water through bowsers or rail-transported bowsers, but the operation required the sanction of other authorities such as the local councils of the areas from where water was to be obtained.
He also said there were reports that bowser drivers take money from residents to give extra water and authorities should take action to stop this.
The Ven. Kurukudegama Jinanannda Thera, who gives co-leadership to an all-sects monks’ group formed to help the people to find solutions to their grievances, said that although drilling had been stopped and grouting had started, wells continued to lose their water. Several schools, temples, hospitals and hotels are facing a severe water crisis while their buildings become more and more unsafe.
According to the Thera, more than twenty temples, including the archaeologically important Dowa Raja Maha Viharaya, have suffered damage.
He said the monks formed the Tri-Nikaiyika viharadipathi saha Viharadikari Sangamaya because they wanted to send a message underscoring that their struggle had no political agenda.
When the Sunday Times contacted Buddhist Affairs Commissioner Nimal Kotawela for his comments on the damage caused to the temples, he said it had not been brought to his notice but now that he had been made aware, he would call on local authorities to submit information for the Buddha Sasana Ministry to take action.
Meanwhile, Archaeology Director General B. Mandawela said his department regularly conducted tests with regard to the soil movement to ensure the safety of the two archaeological sites in the Bandarawela area.
He said the department was especially concerned about the Dowa Raja Maha Viharaya which has a great historical value. He said officials had gone to inspect the “Awasage” (the monks’ abode) of the historic Heel Oya Raja Maha Viharaya as there were reports it had suffered some damage.
Although there were reports that several temples had suffered damage, only those temples which were more than 100 years old and had been gazetted for conservation came under the Arachaeological Department, Prof. Mandewela said.