Thambuttegama farmers Losing their calm before the ‘storm’
People engaged in agriculture lament over proposed water supply project
The Dailymirror visited the farmer communities living in the left bank of the Rajanganaya reservoir. Several of them had had a meeting with the President to bring a solution for this matter. Speaking to the Dailymirror, a few residents of the area along with farmers shared their thoughts.
2018-03-06
Given its fertile soil and greener pastures, the main occupation in the Anuradhapura District is farming. From paddy to banana, coconut and vegetables, these farmers generate income through fresh produce. However due to the recent drought conditions, these farmers couldn’t get the best use of the Yala and Maha seasons. The Rajanganaya tank provides water to over 35,000 families and these farmers have so far worked during both seasons. The proposed water supply project is supposed to distribute water to three Grama Niladhari (GN) divisions including Thambuttegama, Galnewa and Thalawa. However, the farmers recently protested that this project will consume more water than estimated and it would affect farming. As a result of a protest staged on February 28, 60 farmers were arrested following a clash between the Police and the protesters and 51 of them were released on bail yesterday. In an attempt to shed light on this issue, the Dailymirror recently visited Thambuttegama and spoke to some individuals including the Police and the farmers with the help of area resident Nilantha Ekanayake.
They attacked us first: Police B-report
According to the B-report submitted by the Police the people who protested ignored the court order produced by the Thambuttegama Magistrate. The protest was staged by farmers representing 64 farmer associations in the right and left banks of the Rajanganaya Dam. They began the protest on the Kala Oya Bridge and obstructed the main road. In order to limit any inconvenience caused to the public, the Police team diverted the traffic onto alternative routes. Therefore vehicles travelling from Anuradhapura to Kurunegala were diverted via Giribawa while vehicles moving from Kurunegala to Anuradhapura were diverted via Meegalawa.
The report further states that the protesters then started moving towards the Police junction. When the Headquarter Inspector Priyantha and a team had gone to handover the court order to Rajanganaya Unified Farmers Association President Nihal Wanniarachchi, the protesters refused to accept it. They had said that in order to make an impact the protest had to be violent. They have further said that they will protest until someone in the Government sends a letter saying that the project has been stopped. In turn they surrounded us (the Police) and started attacking. From the attack, nine Police officers were injured while around 100 Police officers got involved to counter the attack.
During this incident clauses 140, 146, 410, 314, 316, 315, 157, 332, 344 and 149 of the Penal Code had been violated. As a result 60 people were taken into custody and 15 were released on bail.
This is a Government project implemented under proper procedures
-Wanninayake
Speaking to the Daily Mirror Anuradhapura District Secretary R. M Wanninayake said that obtaining water from reservoirs for drinking purposes is not new to this area.
“With the permission from the Department of Irrigation and the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, water is being extracted from reservoirs such as Thuruwila, Nuwara Wewa and Tissa Wewa. Therefore a similar proposal has been put forward in connection with the Rajanganaya reservoir as well.
People in areas such as Galnewa and Nochchiyagama don’t have drinking water. Therefore this project was proposed to provide drinking water to these people. This isn’t a private project or a bottled water project as mentioned in certain social media sites. This is a Government project which is being implemented under proper procedures. The construction part is being handled by a Chinese company. In Rajanganaya, close to 30,000 people are farmers. In addition to that other cultivations such as banana, coconut and various other vegetables too can be found. Hence it is the most fertile area in the Anuradhapura District. The main reason behind this protest is the fear that the farmers have that they would not have enough water to work with in their paddy fields if an equal amount of water is used for this project as well. But the NWSDB has affirmed that they will only extract the amount of water permitted by the Irrigation Department and this too will be in future.”Wanninayake said.
Wanninayake further said that only the initial stages of the project are currently being carried out. “They are not extracting any water yet. The project will commence in 2021. In case of a drought the extraction of water will be controlled, so that farmers would not be affected. All these matters were discussed with the farmers, but they still haven’t understood the purpose behind the project. If these protesters staged a peaceful protest without inconveniencing the public, there wouldn’t have been any issue,” he continued.
When asked if the project would commence, Wanninayake said that it had been suspended. “The project hasn’t commenced, so there was nothing to suspend anyway. The NWSDB also agreed to it and now we have requested from the authorities to re-inspect the amount of water to be extracted and educate the farmer communities in the lower banks about the project before commencing it. The reason for the low levels of water have no connection with any project, but they are due to the adverse drought conditions that have prevailed during the past few months. There are many ways in which water will be wasted such as when spill gates are opened. The NWSDB will go ahead with the project only with the approval of the irrigation department. This approval has already been given. We have to consider the problem of kidney disease and this is why we have implemented a project of this nature. In future, farmer communities will be informed once the project commences,”said Wanninayake.
