CAN THE MAHAWELI GANGA SATISFY THE NEEDS OF THE MAHAWELI DEVELOPMENT SCHEME (MDS) ?
The Mahaweli Ganga was to supply the water requirements for irrigarion of the lowland paddy areas to be developed in the Project area of the MDS as well as for the 7 hydro power projects of Ukuwela (30MW), Bowatenne (40MW), Kotmale (201MW), Victoria (210MW), Randenigala (126mW, Rantambe (50MW) and Moragahakande (75MW) The ability of the Mahaweli ganga to supply all this water seems to have been based on the assumpion that it is a perennial water source of infinite capacity! After 49 years since the inception of the MDS in 1968/69, the belief that the Mahaweli would be able to supply this water is now suspect. Due to the shortage of Mahaweli water for both irrigation and power production, in 2016, the paddy production in the Mahaweli systems were for below the projected which entailed urgent imports of rice while the production of electricity at Victoria and Randenigala were also curtailed. At present, a substantial proportion of farmers being provided with monthly drought relief in th...