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Kandaketiya farmers fear water crisis due to Uma Oya diversion
View(s):Pix and text by K.R. Rajamanthri
While farmers in the south are starting to see advantages from the Uma Oya water project, those in the Kandeketiya region of the Badulla District claim that the diversion has deprived them of the water resources they have relied on for cultivating about 5,000 acres for the last 74 years.
They say a dam was built in Kandaketiya in 1941, followed by another dam in Bathmedilla in 1948, to divert the Uma Oya water along a 15-kilometre canal to irrigate 5,000 acres.
After the commissioning of the Uma Oya project last month, Kandeketiya farmers say they will not have sufficient water to cultivate, especially during a drought.
Panoramic view of Kandeketiya
In 2019, a US$174 million project was launched to build another dam at Thalpitigala in Bathmedilla, but the project undertaken by a Chinese firm remains suspended. Under the project, a 457-metre-long and 46-metre-high dam was planned to be built to benefit 10,000 farmer families and generate 84 megawatts of power.
Retired Grama Niladhari D.B. Ratnayake
A drinking water plant, a freshwater fish project, and tourism-related facilities were to be part of the development project covering Kandaketiya and Uva Paranagama.
A project official said the acquisition of lands, payment of compensation, and preparation of roads had begun. However, he said he was unable to say when the project would be completed.
Kandaketiya farmer D.M. Jayasundara said they were not against the diversion of the water to Hambantota, but it should not have happened by depriving paddy lands that had depended on Uma Oya for the past 74 years.
Badulu Oya-Bathmedilla Joint Farmers Organisation secretary D.M. Mahinda Premasiri said that before resolving the water issues in the south, the authorities should have completed the Bathmedilla project.
Kandaketiya farmer D.M. Jayasundara
He claimed that the decision to divert the Uma Oya waters to the south was made taking into account the water level during the rainy period instead of the drought period experienced between June and September in the Badulla district.
Retired Grama Niladhari D.B. Ratnayake said that under the project there was also a plan to build a road link between Uva Paranagama and Kandakeitya, enabling shorter travel times between Nuwara Eliya and Walapane and allowing farmers to transport their agricultural products faster.
The villagers call on the government to pay urgent attention to the water problem caused by the Uma Oya diversion.
After the commissioning of the Uma Oya project: A drop in the water level of Uma Oya lower stream
Kandeketiya farmers fear paddylands will be deprived of water during the drought
Bathmedilla dam: Built in 1941
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