Sunday Times 2
Moragahakanda: It all began with a dream of a visionary
‘The Moragahakanda Dream Reservoir – 47 Years of Aspiration by a Visionary Leader’, was published in July 2019. The coffee table book, which relates President Maithripala Sirisena’s vision and accomplishments in constructing the Moragahakanda Reservoir, is replete with stunning photographs of the reservoir now officially named Moragahakanda Kulasinghe Reservoir. It also carries several images of President Sirisena, tracing his long involvement with the project.
The introduction written by President Sirisena himself outlines the benefit the reservoir would have on the Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura regions and to the people of Northern and North Western provinces. He relates how he laid the foundation stone in 2007 and how after becoming President, work on the Moragahakanda Dam, that had faced many stumbling blocks, was completed within three and a half years.
The book relates how after the Mahaweli Development Project was completed on January 8, 1976, a celebration was held. Among the crowd, stood a 25-year-old Maithripala Sirisena, who watched the spectacle with great enthusiasm. Hailing from a small farming village in Rajarata, he understood the hardships that were faced by the people who lived there. On that day, he made a solemn promise to himself to complete a similar initiative someday.
Four times as large as the Parakrama Samudraya, the Moragahakanda-Kalu Ganga project focuses primarily on supplying water for agricultural purposes and generating 25 megawatts of electricity. For the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, a 20 kilometre-long underground tunnel has been built to carry water from a reservoir. Moragahakanda Resevoir is the fifth and final inclusion to the five great reservoirs of the Mahaweli Development Project.
The Moragahakanda Kulasinghe Reservoir has been named after renowned engineer Dr. A.N.S Kulasinghe. The President explains the reason for this in the book: “I remember the first name that was proposed for this project was ‘Moragahakanda Samudraya’. However, I thought it was more suitable to name the Moragahakanda-Kalu Ganga Project after the late Dr A.N.S Kulasinghe, because of his dedication and commitment towards this reservoir. He was one of the greatest and most prominent engineers of Sri Lanka. This is our way of paying tribute to him.” Dr Kulasinghe was heavily involved in the Mahaweli Development Project and worked closely with Maithripala Sirisena, playing a vital role in the execution of the project.
One of the most fascinating chapters of the book is titled ‘The Unique Creations of Sri Lanka’s Irrigation History’. It details Sri Lanka’s rich history with regard to irrigation development. From Prince Vijaya locating his villages around water resources to the marvel of the ponds located atop the Sigiriya rock, the ancient kings of Sri Lanka, most notably King Vasabha (67 AD to 111 AD), King Mahasen (465 AD – 473 AD), King Dhatusena (465 AD – 473 AD) and Parakramabahu I (1153 AD – 1186 AD), significantly developed Sri Lanka’s hydraulic system.
The chapter titled ‘The Resilient Dream of a Nation’s Son’ focuses on Maithripala Sirisena’s long held dream of building a reservoir which was finally achieved given that the project had faced many delays and a lack of political will to see it through before his intervention. The chapters ‘The Giant Twin Reservoirs of Moragahakanda and Kalu Ganga’, ‘The Maha Ela Project and Elahera Ela Development Project’ and ‘Hydroelectric Power Generation through the Moragahakanda’ go into technical details about how the project was implemented and its electricity generation objectives.
The chapters — ‘Uplifting the livelihoods and living standards of the village farmers through the Moragahakanda – Kalu Ganga Reservoir Project’, ‘Economic Prosperity through Agricultural Progress’ and ‘Tacking the Kidney Disease Issue through the Supply of Clean Water’ — explain how the Moragahakanda Kulasinghe Reservoir has benefited the lives of the people in the surrounding areas.
The last chapter of the 281-page book is on ‘Conserving Wildlife and Nature through Sustainable Development’. It looks at projects that have disregarded and harmed animal and plant life and explains how the Moragahakanda Reservoir, in contrast, was built in an eco-friendly manner. Even if a tree or a plant was cut down during the project, another was planted in its place, it states.
A word about the photographs which present a stunning panorama, reminding the reader afresh of the rich beauty of this land. The Director of Photography for the book is Nishantha Yatagampitiya.
The Creative Directors of the book are Dhamma Dissanayake and Prageeth Maniyangama, while the Design Director is Tissa Samarakoon with Manoj Rupasinghe as Print and Quality Coordinator. The book was printed by Printage (Pvt) Ltd and published by Kasthirama Publications.