Nachchaduwa Irrigation Scheme rehabilitated with JICA assistance

The Nachchaduwa Irrigation Scheme rehabilitated under the Pro-Poor Economic Advancement and Community Enhancement Project (PEACE) was ceremonially declared open on 14 February by the Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management Nimal Siripala De Silva with the participation of the Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka Nobuhito Hobo. Chief Minister of North Central Province Berty Premalal Dissanayake, Deputy Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Management W.B. Ekanayake and Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Akira Shimura also graced the occasion.

The Pro-poor Economic Advancement and Community Enhancement (PEACE) Project is generally called as ‘Wari Pubuduwa.’ The project is contributing to achieving sustainable development of regional agriculture and improving socio-economic status and family incomes of the rural community while enabling stable irrigation water supply and providing support to the farmers on the agriculture and other income generating activities with integrated approach.

The project has been implemented under the two major components namely ‘Kurunegala and Anuradhapura Development Plan’ and ‘North East Province Pilot Scheme.’

The Kurunegala and Anuradhapura Development Plan under the PEACE Project was implemented to rehabilitate eight major irrigation schemes, 12 medium irrigation schemes and 80 minor irrigation schemes in the North West, North Central, Central, and 10 major and medium irrigation schemes in the North and East Provinces in Sri Lanka.

In addition to irrigation infrastructure rehabilitation, strengthening and capacity building of farmers’ organisations and government officers in various aspects such as water management, rehabilitation of canals and farm roads etc. through Community Action Planning (CAP), procurement of vehicles and equipment, construction/rehabilitation of support facilities, income generating activities, and provision of micro credit were implemented to realise the objectives of the project. The project has been financed by JICA amounting to Yen 6010 million (Rs. 8,100 million) under the Yen Loan to Government of Sri Lanka and implemented by the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management.

Nachchaduwa Reservoir (known as Mahagallaka reservoir at the time of king ruling) is considered to be one of the sixteen large reservoirs built by King Mahasen (276-303). Nachchaduwa lies just outside the city of Anuradhapura, and Nachchaduwa tank has a catchment area of 623 Square Kilometers. The Length of the dam is 1646 m and the height is 11 m. The capacity of the tank is 55.7 millions cubic meters. Rehabilitation under the PEACE project improves water distribution condition drastically ensuring equal distribution of irrigation water to farmer’s paddy fields within shorter time. The effect of Nachchaduwa rehabilitation itself benefited the 2500 no of farmer families with supply of improved irrigable water to the extent of 2540 Ha.

“The achievement of the PEACE Project is not limited to the rehabilitation of irrigation facilities, but extends to the promotion of the voluntary participation and contribution of farmers, which is an essential element of the sustainability of project outcomes” says Shimura. “Though meeting various challenges, the combined efforts of public officers, farmers and consulting team have accomplished the project objectives,” Shimura commends.

“The challenges faced during the project implementation have accumulated as knowledge, and the PEACE project integrated approach on the Irrigated Agriculture can be expanded to the other areas of Sri Lanka,” added Shimura.