Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved a revised plan to complete the Kolonnawa Stormwater Drainage and Environmental Improvement Project over three years at an estimated cost of Rs 15,077.82 million, reviving a flood-mitigation scheme that has been stalled since 2020.
The proposal was presented by the Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development, EconomyNext reported at 3.23 p.m. on Tuesday.
Why it stopped
Construction began in 2019. “Although construction work commenced in 2019, the implementation of its components as originally planned was hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the subsequent economic crisis,” the cabinet paper stated.
Authorities then prepared a fresh project plan and an updated cost estimate for the remaining work. Seven years will have passed between the start of construction and the end of the new three-year programme.
What the money buys
| Component | Scale |
|---|---|
| Salalihini Mawatha canal (ongoing construction) | 3,250 m |
| Dahamwela canal (new) | 3,868 m |
| Passanna Canal (rehabilitation) | 4,475 m |
| Dandu Thota Canal (rehabilitation) | 650 m |
| Dandu Thota sluice gate | Repair |
| Mobile pumps | 3, each 1 m³/second |
| Water retention ponds | Dedicated construction |
| Compensation and relief package | Rs 1,015 million |
The canal works total 12,243 metres — just over 12 kilometres of new and rehabilitated waterway. The plan also covers acquisition of land plots within the project area.
The compensation line is the one to read
The cabinet note describes the package as covering the “acquisition of essential land plots within the project area, and the implementation of a compensation and relief package — estimated at 1,015 million rupees — for affected families, taking into account the potential impact on their daily livelihoods.”
At Rs 1,015 million of Rs 15,077.82 million, compensation is 6.7 per cent of the project. The wording is specific in a way that matters: the money is for the impact on daily income, not only for property taken. That describes displacement of people who earn where they live — and it is the element most likely to determine whether the remaining work proceeds on schedule, since land acquisition is a common cause of delay in Colombo canal projects.
No filing states how many families are affected, which would give the per-household figure.
Three pumps against a flood
The three mobile pumps are each rated at one cubic metre of rainwater per second, for a combined capacity of 3 m³/s. The pumps are mobile rather than fixed, which indicates they are intended to be moved to whichever point is overwhelmed during a storm rather than to serve one station permanently.
Kolonnawa sits on low ground in the Kelani river basin on Colombo’s eastern edge, and is among the first areas to flood when heavy rain coincides with a high river. The project’s combination of new channels, rehabilitated older ones and retention ponds is a storage-and-conveyance approach: hold water back where it falls, then move it out faster.
Context: a separate, faster promise
This approval should not be confused with the clean-up this desk reported on 13 October, when the Prime Minister gave a two-week deadline for clearing Colombo’s canals and drains. That is a maintenance instruction with a two-week horizon; this is a capital project with a three-year one. They address the same flooding problem at different timescales, and no filing connects them.
Not reported
The filing does not name the contractor or say whether the remaining work will be re-tendered, state how much of the original project was completed before 2020, or give the original cost estimate — which would show how much the delay has added.
It does not say when the three-year clock starts, how the project is financed, or whether any foreign lender is involved. The number of affected families, the timetable for compensation payments, and the expected reduction in flood risk are all unstated.
On sourcing. This is a single-source report. This desk searched for independent filings on the same cabinet decision across the other verified newsrooms and traced none; Hiru covered two other decisions from Tuesday’s briefing but not this one, and the cabinet office’s own decisions page could not be reached from this host.
Sources: EconomyNext — Sri Lanka approves Rs 15bn plan to revive Kolonnawa drainage project.
