A new water purification facility opened on Sunday in the Thirappane Divisional Secretariat area, providing safe drinking water to around 1,300 families who have faced severe difficulties obtaining potable water.
The plant was built within the premises of the Thirappane Divisional Secretariat and inaugurated under the leadership of the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Lieutenant General Nilantha Premaratne. It is the first community welfare initiative he has attended since assuming office as Army Commander at the end of July.
Funded by a donor in the United States
The project was financed by a contribution of Rs. 2.65 million from a Sri Lankan resident in the United States, who supported it through a personal connection with the Army Commander. Ada Derana did not name the donor.
Construction began roughly three months ago and was carried out with the involvement of Army personnel, following coordination by Lieutenant General Premaratne during his earlier tenure as Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army.
A district with long-standing water problems
Thirappane lies in the Anuradhapura district, part of a dry-zone region where access to safe drinking water has been a persistent public health concern. Several divisional secretariat divisions in the district have long depended on groundwater sources linked to Chronic Kidney Disease of uncertain origin and to dental and skeletal fluorosis.
Larger schemes are under way in the same district: the Japan International Cooperation Agency began Phase II of the Anuradhapura North Water Supply Project in July, the country’s second-largest ongoing water supply initiative, which will extend piped supply to six divisional secretariat divisions.
