{"id":111433,"date":"2021-02-07T17:24:36","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T00:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=111433"},"modified":"2021-02-07T17:24:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T00:24:36","slug":"a-bouquet-for-president-gotabhayas-waari-saubhagya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/02\/07\/a-bouquet-for-president-gotabhayas-waari-saubhagya\/","title":{"rendered":"A bouquet for President Gotabhaya\u2019s \u201cWaari Saubhagya”"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne former G.A.Matara<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

President Gotabhaya deserves a bouquet for his new programme Waari\nSaubhagya which commenced today(6\/2), with the restoration of Mahameegasweva in\nthe Palugasweva area of the Anuradhapura District. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The restoration of the tanks\nin NuwaraKalaviya is an urgent need and it is a great feat to restore the\ntanks, the life blood of the people. In fact when I saw the D8 bulldozers-\nmoving the earth in the tank bed at Mahameegasweva this morning on the\nTelevision, in nostalgia, I happily relived my days in 1963 when as Assistant\nCommissioner of Agrarian Services I was in charge of minor irrigation work in\nthe Anuradhapura District. The Department of Agrarian Services had then taken\nover minor irrigation from the Government Agent and  I commenced \nthe restoration of neglected tanks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier when work was done on\nthe tanks the work was entrusted to a contractor and generally the earth work\nwas done with labour- on a piece rate- to dig and place earth on the bund. The\nVillage Cultivation Officers made the plans, checked by a Cultivation\nSuperintendent, finalised by a special Technical Assistant loaned from he\nIrrigation Department and the staff officer got involved when the last 25% had\nto get paid. On my inspections I found that the work done was inadequate and decided\nthat the newly elected cultivation committees should get some tanks fully\nrestored with D8 bulldozers. The Cultivation Committes were given the contract.\nMy decision was resented by the Irrigation Officers but I had my way. I and the\nTechnical Assistant Soma Jayawardena were present overseeing the D8 machine\nmoving earth from the tank bed and mounting it onto the bunds when the first\ntank was restored, The tank bed was dug to the level of the lower sluice. The\ncapacity of water held was  enormously increased.\nHowever though the farmers and the cultivation committees appreciated what we\ndid the Village Cultivation Officers who resented my taking away the contracts\nfrom the contractors ganged against me and carried tales to Minister Maitripala\nSenanayake whom they knew as the Minister had himself once served as a\nCultivation Officer. I had interdicted almost ten Cultivation Officers for\nirregularities by then. The Minister \nreported me to our Ministry and I was given an immediate transfer- even\nordered not to enter my office again. A few weeks later Soma Jayawardena, the\nTechnical Assistant who cooperated with me on my investigations was also given\na punitive transfer to Moneragala. With this move the Agrarian Services attempt\nat restoring tanks stopped abruptly. By then I had completed the restoration of\nonly some four or five tanks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later the JVP commenced action to restore tanks when they were in\noffice for a short period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus the current programme by\nour President  is a great programme and\nwith the Army also coming into the scene, I live in hope that a great future\nwill dawn for the farmers in Nuwara Kalaviya. \nThe USA Army attends to a very large programme of development work. The\nCity of New Orleans is below the sea level and the city is saved by levees\nbuilt and carefully maintained by the army. When I motored to New Orleans I saw\nthe Army in action at several places. The US Army is all over the country\nattending to development tasks all done in Sri Lanka by our civilian departments.  In the Columbia River Basin alone the US Army\nhas done wonders building hydro electric schemes. These are stupendous\nstructures the likes of which I have never seen anywhere else.  The US Army in its hydro electricity schemes\nproduce some 44% of the total hydro power produced in the USA. We  foreigners think that the US Army is only\nused for war. In my travels in the USA I have met them everywhere in the\nColumbia River, in Yellowstone and in New Orleans. .  Similarly our Army has to be used for\ndevelopment work and this move of enlisting their services to restore tanks is\na commendable move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have in my writings even\nsuggested that our Army should put up wind turbines and we can save all the\nforeign exchange we spend on fuel for producing \nelectricity. Here our problem is that we are building wind turbines on\nthe coast,  to turn with the mild coastal\nbreeze, ignoring the shuddering wind power we experience in our mountains.  My book: Wind Power for Sri Lanka\u2019s Energy\nRequirements, published recently \nwhich proves that we can build wind turbines easily, and can provide all\nthe power we need within two years has been unfortunately  put on the back burner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the restoration of\nthe tanks, the irrigation administration needs to be addressed\nimmediately. The tanks hold little water today because the tanks have been\nneglected in the past few decades. In ancient times the tank maintenance  and the administration of water was done by\nthe Gamsabha, comprising village leaders and the administration was very effective,\nThe British abolished the Gamsabha and instead the Government Agent attended to\nthe irrigation administration through a Vel Vidane whom he appointed. This\nsystem got a boost with the enforcement of the Paddy Lands Act and its\ncultivation committees- elected bodies that worked with the participation of\nthe farmers.  These cultivation\ncommittees ceased to exist after the abolition of the Paddy Lands Act.  This happened in 1978 and since then for the\npast five decades there has been no effective irrigation administration.  Yaya Palakas have been elected, rather\nappointed and there is total chaos which has led to the neglect of\nmaintaining  the tanks as well as the\ncultivation of paddy land under the tanks. This has led to the siltation of\ntanks, neglect of canals and the lack of systematic cultivation. In 1999 I\nwrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What struck me most in this\nrevisit was that the tanks,  the life\nblood  in NuwaraKalaviya has ceased to\nexist.  Looking at what was left of a\ntank I had to imagine that the small trail of earth jutting upwards a few feet\nat most  was the bund of the tank\u2026\nlooking at the edges of the tank… one could see encroachments on the upper\nreaches… Looking at the Jaya Ganga, \nthe master piece of engineering, where the gradient is some sections is less\nthan six inches in a mile, the massive canal that brought the waters of the\nKalaweva to the City tanks of Anuradhapura, it was clear that it too was\nneglected with vegetation blocking the flow of water.. A further problem is the\ncultivation of tank beds and encroachments,, Non conformists decide to\ncultivate the tank bed without authority. The tank bed is full of silt and\ngives a bumper crop. With the rains the upper reaches of the tank bed are\ntractor ploughed and with the first rains seed is sown. As the tank fills and\nthe water reaches the illicit cultivation  \nthe illicit cultivator damages the tank bund to save his crop.. Tankbed\ncuitivation  leads to siltation because\nthe earth that has been tractor ploughed gets washed to the deeper sections of\nthe tank bed.\u201d(From: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka:Godages)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus in the past five decades\nthere has been total neglect and no proper system of irrigation administration\nand unless this is addressed the restored tanks will again get neglected.\nPerhaps this may please be addressed by our President. Perhaps Minister Basil\nRajapaksa who is now organizing  an\nadministrative system going down to the village level may please consider  looking \ninto this.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I enclose a  Summary of my\nbook NuwaraKalaviya which has just been published by Godages which tells us of\nwhat is happening in Nuwara Kalaviya today. . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SUMMARY<\/em> <\/h1>\n\n\n\n

I<\/em>\ncan understand  disasters caused by\nnatural calamities, but I cannot come to terms with the demise and destruction\nof the ancient irrigation tanks and its unique agricultural cultivation system\nin Nuwarakalaviya. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndemise of the irrigation tanks(weirs) began with the abolition of Rajakariya by\nthe Colebrook and Cameron Reforms of 1833. However the Government Agents and\nthe  Cultivation Committees established\nunder the Paddy Lands Act organized paddy cultivation and managed the distribution\nof irrigation water. When the Paddy Lands Act was abolished the\ncultivation  committees ceased to exist.\nThe Yaya Representatives elected under the Agrarian Services Act were\nineffective. This has led to the tanks being neglected, silted up and being\nencroached upon<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime The\nCDKU-Kidney disease has already caused the death of 40,000 and around a million\nare on death row. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A once prosperous\npeasantry is lost for ever<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administrative incompetence that has caused this is unfolded\nin these papers.  It is indeed a very sad\nstory, where I too played<\/em> <\/em>a major role.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However all is not lost. The lost administration can be brought\nback; the agricultural extension system can be built up, agriculture and agro\nindustry can develop the economy of Nuwarakalaviya<\/em> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May this revelation reach the ears of our leaders<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From NUWARAKALAVIYA, (Godages: 2020) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Gotabhaya\u2019s move to\nrestore 5000 tanks takes care of my concerns in this book and I fervently wish\nWaari Saubhagya all success. I look forward to hear of a NuwaraKalaviya Deviyo\nsometime in the next four years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garvin Karunaratne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ph.D Michigan State University 1978<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLAS, Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services, Anuradhapura\n1963\/64 & G.A. Matara 1971-73<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author of
\nHow the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka and Alternative Programmes of Success; Godages:\n2006 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the IMF Sabotaged Third World Development:Godages\/Kindle: 2017 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NuwaraKalaviya:Godages:2020 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wind Power for Sri Lanka\u2019s Energy Requirements:\nGodages: 2019<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

7\/2\/2021,  Colombo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Garvin Karunaratne former G.A.Matara President Gotabhaya deserves a bouquet for his new programme Waari Saubhagya which commenced today(6\/2), with the restoration of Mahameegasweva in the Palugasweva area of the Anuradhapura District. The restoration of the tanks in NuwaraKalaviya is an urgent need and it is a great feat to restore the tanks, the life […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-by-garvin-karunaratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111433\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}