The Hon. (Dr.) Susil Ranasinghe

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, the Member asks about Unnichchai but cites Kivul Oya. Rs. 23,000 million has not been allocated solely to Kivul Oya for drinking water. Drinking water is only one component; the rest concerns irrigation and other uses. For the areas in question, the source is the Valachchenai Water Supply Project, which in turn depends on the Rugam Tank scheme. Currently we cannot draw from Rugam; for that we need the Mundeni Aru project. Though funding is not yet secured, preliminary designs for Mundeni Aru are underway and initial activities have commenced. After that, we can proceed with a funding agency. Because that project takes time, we are implementing a 1,000 m³/day package plant now, and plan another of similar capacity if Mundeni Aru is delayed, until water is delivered via the Valachchenai mega project. Funds have been allocated for this approach and we aim to complete by this November.