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Half-built Kadawatha to Mirigama expressway landfill worsens flooding
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Incomplete expressway columns extending from Ganemuula to Kirindiwela. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
By Kasun Warakapitiya
Gampaha residents say flooding in the district was the worst in recent memory and that filling up of land without building drainage is the cause.
The heavy rains lasting for more than a week, flooded the Gampaha town, including an area of the hospital. The flooding is becoming worse every year due to filling up of land, but the issue is said to be the filling up of land for the expressway.
Flooded farmland
Indigolla, Gampaha resident R.D. Anurasiri, who owns a pharmacy in Gampaha town, told the Sunday times he had used silicone gel (adhesive used to glue aquarium glass) to seal the premises, to no avail.
“There was more than six inches of water that had seeped in during the rain,” he said, adding that in previous years, the pharmacy would have been two feet under water.
Mr. Anurasiri said flooding increased after the paddy fields were filled up to build the Kadawatha to Mirigama expressway portion which extends via Gampaha.
The Sunday Times visited Gampaha and saw the incomplete expressway columns extending from Ganemulla to Kirindiwela, as well as flooded farmland. The paddy was to be harvested in the coming weeks.
Several roads have been created in the middle of paddy fields at Kirindiwita area, and there are landfill areas with half built columns that had been abandoned, when the expressway alignment was shifted. The landfill is of gravel and rubble. There are no culverts or other mechanisms to drain the water collecting in paddy fields.
Nimal Pushpakumara: Trying to dry off and salvage a portion of his paddy harvest in front of his house
A paddy farmer as well as an owner of a small kiosk at Kirindiwita Gampaha, 57-year-old Jayatissa Yapa said that he had to close his food stand for two weeks due to flooding.
“My farmland is inundated. It was on Thursday that I cleaned my small food stand after two weeks of flooding. I sell pol roti, chicken, and pork roti, but every time it rains I have to shut up shop. I had four feet of water in my food stand,” he said.
R.D.Anurasiri
Partly built columns were visible at the site, while the paddy fields at the sides and beneath the expressway columns, were under water.
The paddy fields areas near Yagoda station, too, were flooded and paddy fields at Akaravita, Magalegoda areas remained under water, while some houses, too, were badly affected. The area was identified as the first to be inundated from the rains, so the farmers are sceptical about planting from August to October.
We observed roads that were filled up to move equipment and machinery to expressway sites are not being used. Rubble and soil near the site had also contributed to flooding.
Percy Siriwardena
A farmer at Ambanvita village in Gamapaha Ja Ela road, Percy Siriwardena, 80, said that about four-and-a-half acres out of his five acre field was destroyed. Most farmers, according to him, faced a similar plight, since the work stopped three years ago.
“I have been engaging in paddy farming for over 50 years, yet the flooding occurred after three years (when the work stopped),’’ he said.
Another farmer of the same area, Nimal Pushpakumara, 75, who was trying to dry off and salvage a portion of his paddy harvest in front of his house, told the Sunday Times that his five acre paddy field was destroyed and he only managed to recover a small amount of paddy.
He said that none of the officials of the Road Development Authority looked into their issues and provided solutions. According to him, either the expressway needs to be completed or else the authorities should rectify the issues.
Chandani Jayakody, owner of a grocery shop at Kakulangoda, Gampaha, told the Sunday Timesthat her shop and house have flooded four times this year. This is the result of landfill and the partly built expressway, she believes.
Chandani Jayakody
Jayatissa Yapa
She claimed that the RDA had not considered the environmental impact and did not heed people’s opinions.
“The state officials should also be practical, because if they fail, my house and shop both get flooded, my belongings get destroyed, while my beautiful ornamental plants wither as they remain soggy by water for at least two days,’’ she said.
A security officer at Kadawatha to Mirigama building site, who claimed anonymity, said that work was slow and had not been stopped, but rusting equipment, closed sheds and creepers covering machinery indicate otherwise.
Meanwhile, the Road Development Authority Director General S.M.P Suriyabandara said that he would respond to questions from the Sunday Times next week.
| Rs 7.5b sought to resume work Once money is approved under the Consolidated Fund, building of the expressway portion Kadawatha to Mirigama Expressway would be recommended, the Secretary of the Transport, Highways, Port and Civil Aviation, K.D.S Ruwan Chandra said. A decision was taken at a progress review meeting of the ministry chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, to request Rs 7.5 billion from the Consolidated Fund via a cabinet paper. Mr Ruwan Chandra said 36% of Kadawatha to Mirigama expressway — 37 kilometres — had been completed. Once completed, this section would allow travel to Kurunegala, Mattala, and Katunayake. — Anjula Mahika Weeraratne | |
| RDA admits temporary roads caused flooding The Road Development Authority (RDA) conceded that temporary roads built to transport machinery for the expressway project were one of the reasons for the recent flooding in Gampaha. “Though the expressway is being built on pillars, the pilot roads created to transport equipment, machinery, and vehicles to the expressway sites by land filling had caused the floods due to disruption in the water flow,” a senior RDA official said. He said they had to break off some portions of the pilot roads to allow flood waters to recede.He said that the temporary roads were built without culverts and drains to reduce costs. He said at the moment the expressway project has been halted due to financial constraints. The senior official added that they had studied the terrain and other aspects, including environment issues, as well as minimising extra expenditure before the expressway project was started. |
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