The farmers in Thanthirimale and suburbs inquire about the reasons for delaying construction work of the lower Malwathu Oya Reservoir Project. They suspect that the construction work is delayed because adequate funds have not been allocated from the last budget to construct the reservoir, which contains over 169,000 acre feet of water.
Ven. Thanthirimale Chandananda Nayaka Thera, who is pioneering the project, said that Rs. 5,000 million should have been allocated from the budget for the project. A senior official of the Irrigation Department said that Rs. 200 million has been allocated from the 2020 budget in this regard.
The project costs Rs. 19,000 million. Once it was completed, around 40,000 acres in Mahawilachchiya and Thanthirimale including the Mannar District could be cultivated with paddy in the Yala and Maha seasons. It also would supply adequate water to Wiyadikulam and Akathimuruppu tanks in the Mannar District.
Moreover, around 50 small tanks in the Anuradhapura north region would receive enough water for farming and drinking from the project including a lift-irrigation system in Thanthirimale that would cultivate around 2,000 acres.
The Thanthirimale project office is preparing and designing the project work with the budgetary funds. If the work is delayed in this way, it will take another six years to complete the project. Irrigation Department sources said that construction work of several irrigational schemes including the Malwathu Oya Project will cost Rs. 80 billion, but with the present financial crisis, finding that much of money is impossible.
The Malwathu Oya Reservoir will be the 6th largest reservoir in the country and the largest in the Anuradhapura District next to the Yanoya Reservoir, which contains 149,000 acre feet of water.
