Programme to renovate 2,400 irrigation tanks commences in Polonnaruwa
March 3, 2018 12:47 am
The inauguration of the programme of renovating of 2400 irrigation tanks was commenced on Friday (02) under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena with the intention of recreating the ancient irrigation development in the country to emerge as a self-sufficient nation.
Accordingly old irrigation tanks, which were not renovated for a long period of time, in the North, East, North Western and North Central provinces will also be renovated under this programme. 123 irrigation tanks in the Polonnaruwa district will be developed in the first phase, the President’s Media Division said.
The renovation works of the ‘Chandana Pokuna’ tank in Hingurakgoda area was commenced under the patronage of the President on Friday (02) as the first irrigation tank of this programme.
This lake provides water to cultivate thousands of acres of land since the time of ancient kings. The ‘Chandana Pokuna’ lake which has a gross water capacity of 800 acre/feet provides its benefits to 300 farming families in the area.
These renovations works carried out with the support of Sri Lanka Army under the “Pibidemu Polonnaruwa (Awakening of Polonnaruwa)” District Development Project.
Addressing the ceremony the President said that the objective of this programme is to strengthen the economy of the farmer community as well as to strengthen the national economy of the country by giving a new impetus for the field of agriculture and food production.
The President pointed out that under the previous government too this kind of projects were implemented, but as a result of not implementing under proper plans those programmes ended up with disappointment.
He further said that it is the responsibility of everybody to contribute to achieve success in this programme to give a better living standard for the farming community in the country.
The renovation activities of the ‘Chandana Pokuna’ was estimated to be around Rs 16 million. However, later it was decided to carry out renovation with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Army with an expenditure of around Rs 2.5 million, the PMD reported.
