The Hon. Aravinda Senarath – Deputy Minister of Land and Irrigation

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation, I respond. The Hon. Member for Ratnapura District, Upul Kithsiri, has raised an important matter. Udawalawa is a vital Mahaweli-era irrigation system.

¶ 02 1. Constructed in 1968. 2. Objectives: release water for agriculture, meet drinking water needs, and generate hydropower. 3. Storage capacity: 268.65 million cubic metres; irrigable command area: 25,000 hectares. 4. Our road network in places traverses reservoir bunds and canals. At Udawalawa, the roadway over the bund provides access for operation and maintenance, and is gazetted as the B427 road and shown on Google Maps.

¶ 03 Given the reservoir’s configuration, a primary road runs over the bund. The Member asks about its implications.

¶ 04 5. Vehicle traffic on bund-top roads poses risks to bund integrity. Engineers of the Irrigation Department and Mahaweli systems have reported that making a main transport route over a bund exerts impacts.

¶ 05 Currently, only light vehicles and passenger buses are permitted on the bund-top road towards Udawalawa and Thanamalvila. Cracking has been observed in the surface concrete slabs, and we are obtaining a technical report. Based on that report, the Mahaweli Authority will plan and implement necessary actions.

¶ 06 6 and 7. Yes. The road was closed for a time but later reopened as a shorter route for the public towards Thanamalvila and Monaragala. There are alternative routes, but people prefer the shortcut. Since the public habitually uses this as a short route, closing it is difficult. Irrigation engineers are engaged and intervening. If studies confirm that traffic threatens safety, we will stop vehicular movement on the bund and divert to alternatives.

¶ 07 There is an alternative road below the bund, but its current usage is low due to certain difficulties. In coordination with the Road Development Authority, we plan to improve this alternative route below the bund to provide a convenient temporary solution for public use.