Another tragedy in the offing
The country has hardly recovered from the tragedy of the Koslanda landslide, which buried alive, hundreds of parents leaving similar numbers of children destitute. The affected community in this case is the downtrodden community, working in the tea estates at very low wages and living in very poor line-houses provided by the private estate owners.Their houses have been reduced to rubble and the families have lost all their belongings and their lifetime savings, in addition to the loss of their kith and kin.
Another tragedy in the offing
The country has hardly recovered from the tragedy of the Koslanda landslide, which buried alive, hundreds of parents leaving similar numbers of children destitute. The affected community in this case is the downtrodden community, working in the tea estates at very low wages and living in very poor line-houses provided by the private estate owners.Their houses have been reduced to rubble and the families have lost all their belongings and their lifetime savings, in addition to the loss of their kith and kin.
This was certainly a preventable tragedy. Negligence on the part of the estate management, in that they have not put in place any practical measures to monitor landslides in an area prone to frequent landslides or to relocate them early to safer sites, has led to this disaster.
In light of the above tragedy it becomes necessary now to alert the people about other tragedies waiting to occur. Iranamadu tank falls within this category. Situated in the Northern Province and serving the irrigation needs of Kilinochchi farmers, this tank must now be put on 'red' alert because its 82-year-old earth bund, raised subsequently several times, is too weak and vulnerable and likely to burst. Due to the onset of the North-east monsoonal rainy weather, the water level in the tank is rising and with the heaviest rains yet to come, the water level will soon reach unsafe levels.With the entire catchment area already completely saturated, all the rainfall from now on will become 'run off' and therefore the filling of the tank will take place at an accelerated pace, increasing the risk of dam bursting. This tank built to give livelihood sustenance to farmers may end up killing the very same farmers.
Iranamadu dam
Breaching of Iranamadu dam will result in the large volume of water (95,000 acre feet) stored in the reservoir to a depth of 32 feet, to suddenly burst out and submerge people, livestock, houses, people's belongings and other public amenities downstream of this dam. Loss of life and livestock will be on a massive scale. Complete loss of livelihood of those who are lucky to escape death and their misery due to wholesale inundation of this region, will follow this tragedy. It will also drive out huge quantities of silt and sediments from the tank and spread them over the agricultural lands and make these lands uncultivable for a considerable period of time, which will be a disaster for the farming community. To put it in a nutshell, it will be a manmade mini tsunami punishing the Kilinochchi farming community due to the apathy of officials.
The earthen bund has been constructed with a vertical impermeable clay core in the middle to minimize seepage.Due to age, deterioration and the pressure exerted by 32 feet of water 'sloughing'could occur on the downstream bund slopes. Sloughing is a process where the soil becomes saturated, soggy and soft, initiating another process known as piping (forming conduits) right through the bund. These processes take place nearer the toe of the slope and are therefore not easily visible. Once piping occurs collapse of the dam will take place rapidly and without warning. Engineers overseeing this tank and the Northern Provincial Council, under whose jurisdiction this reservoir now comes, must act responsibly to avoid another tragedy like the one in Koslanda. Authority and responsibility must go hand in hand.
At this point it is useful to provide a brief history of the Iranamadu reservoir and dam for the benefit of readers.
British period
This tank was designed in 1902 during the British period by the Irrigation Department but construction was delayed due to the outbreak of First World War and Britain's heavy involvement in it.
Construction of this tank was completed in 1922, 20 years later, due to the fact that it was done manually without the use of any machinery. For this reason it was a remarkable engineering feat.
In late 1940's due to unbearable drought conditions people from the Jaffna islands, Nainativu, Velanai, Delft, Pungudutivu, Eluvaitivu etc. migrated in large numbers to Kilinochchi to take advantage of permit lands given free by the government and the farming opportunities provided by the Iranamadu irrigation tank. We have to be thankful to these farmers for their contribution to food self-sufficiency today in Sri Lanka.
In 1951, the bund was raised to impound 30 feet (97 feet above MSL) of water to increase irrigation capacity to 82, 400 acre feet.
In 1954, the bund was again raised to impound 32 feet (99 feet above MSL) of water to increase irrigation capacity to 95,000 acre feet. Radial gates were also introduced around this period to manage dam safety.
In 1975, the bunds were raised for the last time to impound 34 feet (101 feet above MSL) of water to increase irrigation capacity to106,500 acre feet. This provided vastly increased areas of cultivation – 20,900 acres for Kalapokam (Maha) cultivation and 6,900 acres for Sirupokam (Yala) cultivation.
Routine maintenance
Since 1975 only routine maintenance was undertaken in the bund. During the monsoonal rains in 1983, some danger signs were observed in the bund. In early 1984 the bund was inspected by Dr. K. Vigneswaran, then Deputy Director of Irrigation and an Earth Dam expert, who found that the bund was too weak to impound water to any level higher than 32 feet (99 feet MSL). He issued directions accordingly. His direction,that the impounded water level must not exceed 32 feet, based on the condition of the bund in 1984, is followed to this day. The Provincial Irrigation Department tries to maintain the water level slightly below this stipulated level.In the mean time the bund, due to further deterioration and minimum maintenance throughout the war period of 30 years, has become considerably weaker.
The Provincial Irrigation Department could not mobilize the necessary funds to do the urgently needed dam safety work. This is due to the fact that international funding agencies such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) were only willing to fund Sri Lanka for water supply and sanitation related projects. They prioritized water supply and sanitation for Jaffna and Kilinochchi.
In the intervening period due to persistent drought in the Jaffna Peninsula and the Jaffna Islands, life sustainability in these regions became an acute problem. National Water Supply and Drainage Board in collaboration with the Irrigation Department came forward with a sensible scheme to kill two birds with one stone, taking intelligent advantage of the donor criteria for funding, to propose the following:
Rehabilitate and repair the weak bund, providing additional gated and un-gated spillways in order to impound 36 feet of water (103 feet MSL), thereby increasing the tank capacity to 120,000 acre feet.
In 1975 farmers received 106,500 acre feet of water and from 1984 till today they receive only 95,000 acre feet. Once this work is implemented the Kilinochchi farmers will be entitled to their riparian right to receive 106,500 acre feet of water for irrigation, which is 11,500 acre feet (12.1%) more than what they have been receiving since 1984. This represents 88.75% of total reservoir capacity, which is a lot higher than the 65% permitted under the national guidelines – good for farmers, agriculture and food self sufficiency in Sri Lanka.
The surplus water generated, namely 13,500 acre feet, will be used for supplying drinking water to the Jaffna Peninsula, with particular attention to the Islands and the townships of Kilinochchi and Poonakari.This represents 11.25% of total storage in the tank, well below the 35% permitted under the current national policy in Sri Lanka for non-agricultural use.
It should be noted that the creation of extra storage in the reservoir is achieved through an astute but acceptable interpretation of the donor criteria. The funding denied to the Provincial Irrigation Department for the tank renovation work is obtained under the water supply project by advancing the argument that the tank renovation works were an essential part of the proposed water supply project.
The implementation of this scheme, which kills two birds with one stone by effectively serving the needs of Kilinochchi farmers as well as the drinking water needs of Jaffna Peninsula, including the islands and Kilinochchi in the Northern Province, has been blocked by the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) without a democratic debate and vote-taking in the Council, which is most regrettable. They preach good governance but they do not practise it themselves. Frustrating such good, sustainable, environmentally friendly and cost effective projects, which serve the basic needs of the people, cannot be regarded, as an effective means, for our struggle, to achieve more meaningful devolution for this Province. On the contrary it is a double edged knife against the Killinochchi farmers (subjecting them to the dangers of dam breaching and continuing to provide a reduced amount of water for their farming needs, a denial of their riparian rights) and unjustifiably denying the frequently drought stricken people of the Jaffna Peninsula and the Islands with treated piped drinking water and a sewerage system for Jaffna City.
Instead of persuading the NPC to accept the good rationale behind the above best value solution, the Water Supply and Drainage Board has now opted for the most expensive,the least affordable, the least environmentally friendly and the least sustainable technology known as 'Desalinization by Reverse Osmosis Process' to supply drinking water. The National Water and Drainage Board and the Northern Provincial Council will both become a laughing stock for adopting this expensive technology, when we are blessed with sufficient water from the heavens above us. This technology is only appropriate for countries like Saudi Arabia, unblessed by nature with no surface water, no rivers, no ground water and hardly any rainfall. Selling Reverse Osmosis Technology (ROT) to us is like selling refrigerators to the Eskimos. The fact that Northern Provincial Council was also supportive of ROT is even more disappointing because they are not only not taking the correct steps to solve the problems faced by people today but creating doom and gloom for the future. They are gambling the future of our people for short term political gains, an unforgivable crime against people in the Northern Province.
No democratic debate and voting have taken place in the Northern Provincial Council on the subject of "Jaffna–Kilinochchi Water Supply and Sanitation Project and a decision to disapprove this scheme was taken undemocratically by the TNA, on the recommendation of a so called Expert Panel, which hardly had any experts. It is inconceivable that this panel did not include persons like Dr.Vigneswaran, who is undoubtedly one of the most qualified and experienced engineers in this country to advise on this complex subject. It therefore becomes essential that people in the Northern Province debate this 'survival' issue publicly and transparently, challenge the authoritarian and insane decision making processes taking place in the NPC and take to the streets and protest against these anti-social, anti-environment and anti-people activities.
The NPC should obtain better counsel from qualified and experienced engineers and request the ADB to revert to their original proposal of repairing and raising the Iranamadu reservoir to provide irrigation water to Kilinochchi farmers and water supply to the Jaffna Peninsula and Kilinochchi township. Cheap politics should be replaced by responsible statesmanship.
https://www.ceylontoday.lk/90-81760-news-detail-another-tragedy-in-the-offing.html
Eng. M. Sooriasegaram
Jaffna Managers Forum
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