(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Construction of three major reservoirs in Uma Oya Multi-Purpose Development Project, which will provide irrigation and drinking water to Badulla, Moneragala and Hambantota districts has been completed.
Project Director Dr. Sunil De Silva said that the reservoirs will be vested with the public on the 30th of this month.
The Uma Oya project, the largest multipurpose project in the country, is being implemented with an investment of US$ 535 million.
The Uma Oya Project, intends to divert water from the Uma Oya basin in the wet zone to the Kirindi Oya basin in the dry zone, generating electrical energy during the process. The project is expected to add 300 megawatt of electricity to the national grid.
The multi-purpose project involves the construction of two dams across two main tributaries of Uma Oya – Dalgolla Oya and Mahathotilla Oya at Puhulpola and Diaraba respectively to construct the reservoirs and a 23km long trans-basin diversion tunnels with an underground power station.
The two reservoirs will be connected through a 3.2 km long tunnel and will be directed to the underground power station at Karandagolla through a 15.2 km tunnel from the Diaraba reservoir.
The water discharged from the power station is directed to the Alikota Ara a tributary of the Kirindi Oya and then to the existing Handapanagala reservoir and the Kuda Oya via the left and right bank canals.
The irrigation department says that the Handapanagala reservoir has been enlarged by increasing the height of the reservoir’s bund by 12 feet increasing its capacity from 5,000 acre feet to 15,000 acre feet.
Fifteen thousand farmer families will benefit from this project and over 15000 acres of paddy lands will be cultivated in both Yala and Maha seasons.
