{"id":96590,"date":"2022-07-30T10:58:05","date_gmt":"2022-07-30T10:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=96590"},"modified":"2022-07-30T10:58:05","modified_gmt":"2022-07-30T10:58:05","slug":"the-mahaweli-project-the-mother-of-all-development-schemes-in-sri-lanka-by-michael-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/the-mahaweli-project-the-mother-of-all-development-schemes-in-sri-lanka-by-michael-roberts\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mahaweli Project: The Mother of All Development Schemes in Sri Lanka-by Michael Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mahaweli Project: The Mother of All Development Schemes in Sri Lanka-by Michael Roberts<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Source:<\/span><\/strong>Thuppahis<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Ajit Kanagasundaram<\/strong><\/p>\n

40 years have now elapsed since the launch of the accelerated Mahaweli project, so it is an opportune time to review what was done and the benefits and shortfalls of the project to the nation. This project was the culmination of a 50 yearlong process that started with the rehabilitate ancient irrigation works and settlement of the dry zone lands that was initiated by our first Prime Minister, DS Senanayake, when he was the Agriculture Minister in the State Council during the British Raj. After independence, this moved on to more ambitious projects building large multi-purpose schemes like Gal Oya and Uda Walawe culminating in the accelerated Mahaweli project.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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I have written this article on the Mahaweli project from the published material available, the fragmented and haphazardly maintained records at the Mahaweli Authority (unlike the Gal Oya Board who kept meticulous records) and above all from the information and advice of my friend Professor Gerald Pieris. He was a serious postgraduate scholar at Cambridge doing a PhD under Professor Ben Farmer, and I was a playboy undergraduate when we first met over 50 years ago. I could not have written this without his help, but the opinions expressed and the conclusions are mine alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"DS<\/p>\n

Let me give you a brief history of irrigation, colonization and land development. In the 1930s, DS Senanayake started the process of restoring old abandoned tanks and irrigation systems in the Dry Zone and settling Sinhala farmers from the Kandyan areas as colonists in the Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, and Kantalai areas. This was the central plank of DS\u2019s policy and was done to alleviate the acute land hunger among the Kandyan peasantry, whose ancestors had their lands confiscated (under the infamous Waste Lands Ordinance) for coffee and tea plantations after the Kandyan revolt of 1848. His objective was to create a nation of \u201cself-sufficient, prosperous peasantry\u201d. These irrigation, rehabilitation and settlement projects, although piecemeal, were done at a very reasonable cost and can be considered a great success as is well documented in BH Farmer\u2019s classic study \u2013\u00a0Pioneer Peasant Colonization in Ceylon.\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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When he became Prime Minster of an independent Ceylon in 1948, DS, became more ambitious and the result was the Gal Oya Project, whose history I have documented in an article in the Island newspaper last year. This project was a shining example of what can be achieved \u2013 all objectives were met, it was financed from our own resources and managed by Sri Lankans \u00a0\u00a0and there was never any hint of scandal. It was a pity that at the end communal anti-Tamil riots marred the record but this did not diminish the achievement itself. This was followed by the Walawe project, Kantalai and other smaller projects. However dry zone development and colonization was in the Senanayake genes and Dudley Senanayake \u00a0\u00a0revived the old dream of developing the resources of Sri Lanka\u2019s largest river basin, the Mahaweli basin, during his period in office from 1965 to 1970.<\/span><\/p>\n

Actually, this was an old dream. The ancients, who were master irrigation engineers, were aware of its potential of the Mahaweli but lacked the equipment to build dams and diversions on such a large scale in the hill country. There were some attempts to use the waters of the Mahaweli like the Minipe annicut that took waters 48 km to irrigate lands near Pollanaruwa (not to be confused with the even longer at 52 km Yoda Ela), and smaller works like Elahera and Nalanda Oya. The British under Governor Ward in the 1860s similarly constructed some small diversions but did nothing of any consequence. The SLFP government under Sirimavo from 1960 to 1965 also [built] the Maduru Oya Dam (ADB financed) and Polgolla dam, but this work was not part of any comprehensive plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then under Dudley Senanayake\u2019s government from 1965 to 1970 (an oasis of progress and sanity compared to what was to follow both under the SLFP and UNP), the project was revived and the UNDP and FAO were commissioned to do a comprehensive study. They produced a seminal report in 1969 which recommended a Master Plan spread out over 30 years, covering not only the Mahaweli basin, but the adjacent of Kala Oya and Maduru Oya (covering an estimated 40% of the country!) , including 4 major dams, power generation of 470 MW and the clearing and irrigation of 365,000 hectares of land (900,000 acres) using the 6 million acre feet of available water. Further the plan envisaged that only 25% pf the land would be used for subsistence paddy cultivation; [whereas] 55% would be used for cash crops and the balance for other uses like forestry \u2013 I will revert to this in my conclusion. \u00a0250,000 families were to be settled although no details of the modalities were presented<\/span><\/p>\n

This report, which highly recommended the project on economic and social grounds, projected an annual return of 15% on a capital outlay of Rs 6000 million \u2013 a very decent return for a project with social as well as economic objectives. Here was a project that would inspire the whole country, occupy the nation\u2019s energy for a generation and transform our agricultural and energy sectors and the UNP seized on it eagerly. The Mahaweli project was launched, just before the 1970 elections, at a grand gala event, with dancers representing the mighty Mahaweli, and thousands in attendance. No doubt the UNP and Dudley Senanayake thought that this would win them the next election and in any sensible nation it would have. Instead the people preferred the SLFP promises of socialism, free rice from the moon, all this tinged with Sinhala chauvinism \u2013 \u201cDudleygey badey masala vadey<\/em>\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u2013\u00a0 was an effective election slogan, referring to his failed attempt to resolve the ethnic issue with devolution, and this won the day. The UNP under Dudley went down to a crushing defeat and the country was plunged into 7 years of hardship caused by misguided socialist policies, when they also degraded the single best economic asset left to us by the British, the tea plantations, through a misguided and badly executed nationalization policy. Nothing much on the Mahaweli was accomplished during these years. The only positive outcome of these 7 dreary, wasted years was that the population was finally disenchanted with the promise of an easy life under \u2018socialism\u2019, and this particular siren call will never be heeded again.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1977 the UNP under JR Jayewardena were returned with a two-third majority and a mandate to dismantle socialism and nepotism, and promised corruption free good governance and consequently earned the goodwill of the West. JR, who unlike the Senanayakes was not viscerally interested in agriculture and land settlement, nevertheless seized this opportunity and announced the Accelerated Mahaweli Project to be completed in 7 years instead of the 30 years as envisaged in the UNDP Master Plan. In addition, coasting on the Western goodwill generated by his election manifesto promising good governance and development (all these promises were in fact never kept), he negotiated grants and aid for the dams and power stations whose construction was to take place simultaneously not serially as originally envisaged.<\/span><\/p>\n

The UK granted 140 million pounds and offered to build the Victoria Dam and power station, the largest dam in the project and the single largest foreign aid grant that the UK has ever given even to this day. Similarly, Germany and Sweden gave grants and soft loans and offered to handle Randenigala and Kotmale respectively. Never before had so much aid been offered on such generous terms to any developing nation \u2013- all they expected in return was for Sri Lanka to become a model of democracy, development and harmony as an example to other developing countries \u2013 these expectations were later shattered by JR\u2019s communal policies culminating in the ethnic pogrom of 1983. However, the bold decision to compress a 30-year project into 7 years was the right decision and posterity will judge this as JR\u2019s major (probably only) positive contribution to the nation.<\/span><\/p>\n

JR appointed Gamini Dissanayake, a charismatic and energetic young MP, as the Minister of Mahaweli Development in a newly formed ministry and NEDECO, a Dutch engineering firm, was tasked to prepare the detailed implementation plan. Gamini was an excellent choice as he was intelligent, hardworking and had the ability to attract talent. Besides the main dams and power stations that were being built by foreign aid donors, all the Mahaweli Authority had to do was concentrate on downstream development like land clearing, building of irrigation systems and settlement. This they did energetically and effectively (at least at the start). The project had the following components:<\/span><\/p>\n