The Mahaweli Authority has asked farmers’ organisations to submit requests for the restoration of small tanks in the Mahaweli zones, where water levels have dropped in dry weather, NewsFirst reported.
Director General H.M.J.K. Herath said the Authority is providing “maximum assistance” to remove silt and aquatic plants from the affected tanks.
Bowatenna works near completion
Herath also said renovation work to increase the water capacity of the Bowatenna Reservoir — a major Mahaweli reservoir — has reached its final stage. The desilting and capacity project began last month.
Context
Low tank levels have been a recurring theme in the dry zone this season. The National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency reported this week that no El Niño conditions are currently forecast, and reservoir levels in the east were the subject of a separate review in Ampara and Batticaloa earlier this month.
Small village tanks — the cascade systems that irrigate paddy across the dry zone — depend on desilting to hold usable volume, and silt accumulation reduces storage well before a tank runs dry.
Not reported
NewsFirst does not say how many tanks are affected, which Mahaweli systems or districts they fall in, what budget the Authority has for the work, or by when farmers’ organisations must apply. It gives no completion date or cost for the Bowatenna project, does not state how much additional capacity the works will add, and does not say whether the current dry spell has triggered any irrigation water issue restrictions.
No other verified newsroom had filed this story at the time of writing.
