The Hon. (Prof.) L.M. Abeywickrama

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, this question relates to a major calamity in the Matara District. This is a disaster resulting from the salinity barrier constructed across the Nilwala River between 2018 and 2022. Seasonal flooding of the Nilwala is a normal event; once or twice a year water overflows and recedes in two or three days. But due to a barrier constructed at an inappropriate location with a wrong design, several kilometres downstream from where the National Water Supply and Drainage Board draws water, and at a narrow point of the river, about 40 percent of the river’s cross-section has been obstructed. Instead of installing gates that allow floodwaters to drain, concrete has been placed across the bottom, raising the bed by several feet, reducing depth and causing silt and sand to deposit upstream. As a result, after rains, floodwaters now persist for much longer—last time, the area was inundated for about one and a half months. Cinnamon cultivations and even jack trees died, creating a severe socio-economic crisis, leading to protests by farmers and residents.

¶ 02 A committee was appointed to study this, but the study was handed to the same company that designed or advised on the erroneous barrier, creating a major conflict of interest; unsurprisingly, they reported no problem. Subsequently, in November last year, the Water Resources Board and the Department of Irrigation decided to entrust a study to the University of Peradeniya, despite prior clear reports from the Universities of Ruhuna and Moratuwa identifying the risks. Four months have passed and, as per the responses, no such committee has been appointed yet.

¶ 03 Meanwhile, due to the raised bed and loss of gravity flow, to pump water over the last two months one pumping station alone consumed about Rs. 40 million worth of diesel; there are four such stations—an enormous waste alongside the social disaster.

¶ 04 My first supplementary question: As Deputy Minister for Irrigation, will you intervene to find a prompt solution, as this requires urgent resolution?