Danger of the Yala paddy season failing
By Atula Bandara Nelumpathgama
The farmers in the Mahaweli ‘H’ Zone are perturbed about the prevailing drought that has affected paddy cultivation in the area. The residential project manager, Asanka Gunatilleka said that more than 65,000 acres of paddy cultivations were in danger. The irrgation engineer in charge of the Kalawewa Reservoir, M R Bandara said that the capacity of the reservoir had dropped to 25,000- acre- feet and that water would not flow through the sluice gates if the level declined further. He said the fast depleting water level in the reservoir that feeds the Kalawewa Reservoir resulted in this situation. Other minor irrigation works including Mulangamuwa, Kalankuttiya, Siyambalangamuwa, and Kattiyawa tanks fed by Kalawewa are also running dry. The farmers said a vast extent of paddy fields had already been destroyed. Representatives of 221 farmer organizations recently attended religious observances at the Avukana Rajamaha Viharaya and washed the feet of the Avukana statue to invoke the blessings of the gods to save their paddy cultivations. Yesterday, more than 3000 farmers cleaned the Kalawewa and Balaluwewa reservoirs to divert the little water left in them to one place in the reservoir beds. They said more than 35,000 farmers families would lose their livelihood if the Yala harvest failed.
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