Several projects completed under the billions of rupees money eaten Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project have been vested in the public on Wednesday 30 after years of distress inflicted on the people in the area.
President Maithripala Sirisena launched the diversion of water from Puhulpola reservoir to Diaraba reservoir marking the completion of the 35-meter roller compressed concrete dam at Puhulpola across the Uma Oya of the mega project.
This massive irrigation and hydroelectric complex is alleged to be one of the worst environmental disasters Sri Lanka has faced in the recent times, environmentalists said.
The present government has paid compensation amounting to over Rs 1.5 billion for 200 families affected by the project construction.
The main aim at the time of its launch during previous Rajapaksa regime was to provide water to the Mattala Airport, Hambantota Industrial Zone, Hambantota Port, and Hambantota Oil Refinery.
The project’s plan comprised of the construction of two dams, a 26 km long tunnel complex, and an underground powerhouse.
Despite warnings of unimaginable ecological disaster in 2008, when the project was in the planning stage, Rajapaksa regime in power were only interested in building a larger than life image and making a pile from commissions, thus environmentalist warnings were unheeded.
Although the initial estimate for the project was US $ 250 million, Iranian FARAB Energy and Water Project Company was given the task of completing this project for US $ 553 million.
Leaders of the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration have embezzled more money than the estimated cost of the project. Iranian EXIM bank provided a 20 year loan for the project without conducting any technical evaluation, environmentalists alleged.
Ground water reserves have been severely depleted as a result of the construction work..Over 7,000 houses in surrounding area have sustained cracks and other damages.
Over 2,000 springs and wells have dried up and hundreds of acres of farmland became barren and unsuitable for vegetation.
Thousands lost their livelihoods as a result while residents were displaced from their homes.
Even though the first phase of the project had been completed, the current government led by President Maithripala Sirisena temporarily suspended the project in 2015 in the face of severe opposition, but it was resumed not long after, in 2016.
(LI)