News
Uma Oya victims ponder overdue damages payout
View(s):Pix and text by Indika Handuwala
Some say they have not been adequately compensated in the past six years for damage to their homes, the wells that dried up, loss of drinking water and agricultural land that dried up as well.
The main tunnel seen during the early stages of the project.
A leak sprang in the 15.2 kilometre long tunnel of the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project in December 2014, when it was being created using a tunnel boring machine.
Families suffered when their wells dried up and homes began cracking and collapsing. Their agricultural lands dried out as well.
Structural damage to homes is spread across six divisional secretariat divisions — Ella, Bandarawela, Hali-Ela, Haputhale, Welimada, and Uva-Paranagama.
The upstream project, mainly for power generation, also set in motion a downstream development project, under which water used for hydropower generation will be stored and channelled to the dry zone and Hambantota areas to improve agriculture.
The downstream project, handled by the Irrigation Department, is expected to benefit 4,000 farmer families, and allow them to cultivate for three seasons.
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