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Mau-ara miracle Vidanagamage
Prematissa went each day to the main road attempting to divert the
drought relief lorries that were plying into Hambantota. His village
was far interior and the lorries never came their way to distribute
aid. He and his family, like all the other villagers, were beggars
- awaiting handouts of rice, kos or del and precious water.
That was last
year, around this time. Now he is smiling from ear to ear. Even
before you can step into his home, he ushers you into a room stacked
to the roof with huge ura (bags) bursting with paddy. "I have
settled the debts I took last year, kept enough rice for the whole
family to eat, given rice to my close relatives who don't have fields
and still have so much left," he says with pride and joy. All this from
two acres of land cultivated under the Maha-indi wewa in Hamban-tota
district which is in the vicious grip of a drought, with most tanks
fully dried up or partially parched. "Mau-ara
was a dream. There was no song and dance. The channel was cut quietly
and our dream came true. Fields which had never been cultivated,
not only in yala but also in maha were suddenly irrigable last season
and we have just brought in the harvest," says Prematissa,
while wife Gnanawathie adds that last year they didn't have a drop
of water in the tank even to have a bath. Her husband
used to go far and wide in search of water and the precious little
he brought back was sparingly used for their daily needs. A bath
with about four coconut shells full of water was a rare luxury they
could ill-afford. Mau-ara Malala-ara
is a diversion scheme undertaken by a dedicated group of irrigation
officers to solve the "permanent" water problems of the
men, women and children trapped between these two waterways in the
Hambantota district. Though dotted with about six main tanks and
another eight minor ones, they were the victims of severe droughts
and poor rainfall. These rainfed tanks were dry most months of the
year. Of the two paddy cultivation seasons they never attempted
yala and hardly ever maha, because it was only during maha that
there was even a little bit of rainfall. Their meagre livelihood
depended on chena (slash-and-burn) cultivations of mung, bada iringu,
cowpea and brinjal. But for the
first time more than 800 farmers including Prematissa - those living
in the area now, notwithstanding new settlers - in the project area
covering about 4,000 acres, cultivated the yala with water released
from Mau-ara. Now the tanks in the area are brimming. "Those
days we used to grow mung, sell whatever we could and often starved
the rest of the year," says Prematissa. "Ninety-nine
percent of the project is complete. We should be able to complete
the project by the end of next month," says dynamic Kanthi
Chandralatha, Irrigation Engineer for Hambantota, who has seen "this
baby" grow to what it is today since its inception in June
1997. Then she was just a junior engineer working under the able
guidance of Director-General, Irrigation, Linton Wijesooriya and
Project Director A.D.S. Gunawardene. (See box) Now assisted
by Project Manager M.D.J. Stembo, both passionate about the need
for agricultural self-sufficiency for Sri Lanka, she says, "We
have the expertise in the country. There are reports that the first
reservoir built to collect rainwater after damming a waterway in
the whole world, was the Basawakkulama tank in Anuradhapura in 238
BC. We have a long history of tank building." That is not
the only project they are involved in. Take the "unchanging
scenario" in Sri Lanka with regard to paddy cultivation. "In
the 1990s, we were producing only about 78 bushels of paddy per
acre. We are still doing the same. China and India which were at
the same level then have increased their yields to 162 and 158 respectively.
Why not us?" queries Engineer Kanthi. So under the
Wap Haula progamme being implemented by the Irrigation Department,
she and Mr. Stembo are mobilizing farmers through massive awareness
programmes to increase harvests and improve their lot. Notices of
meetings are put up on trees and they plan to set up boards with
"farmer news" at strategic points in these far-flung areas. "We are
working with the Provincial Agriculture Department to make farmers
more aware about organic farming. How to 'hide' the water from evaporation
and percolation by laying a bed of straw and albizzia leaves. The
straw could be from the same field and it can be done at no cost.
The nitrogen in the straw will also help the young paddy plants.
Cow dung could be collected and used as manure, in view of the high
cost of urea," says Mr. Stembo. "Already such model plots
have worked wonders." (See box) A gradual change
in farming patterns is taking place in the area. After a meeting
was held close to M.A. Piyasena's home, he is convinced that he
should try his hand at this type of farming. "The Mau-ara project
has kept us from starving for the first time. Our next commitment
is to increase the yield in our fields." They have also
learnt that if they rear a pair of oxen, they will be able to fertilise
one acre of land. "Till recently we didn't know that cow dung
is sold for Rs. 10 per small bag in Colombo," says Prematissa
laughingly adding that they should take a tractorload once in a
while to Colombo to make a good profit. Banter aside, how to grow paddy is serious business for these farmers. And the proof of the success of the Mau-ara project is not only in the smile-wreathed faces of farmers, but also in the pots of boiling aluth sahal (new rice) on their tiny hearths. The
beginnings With a 30%
drop in rainfall figures and changes in the monsoon patterns the
cultivation timetables were gradually changing. What did these changes
predict for our agriculture? Could we ask our humble farmers and
all Sri Lankans to reduce the size of their stomachs and change
their staple food? asks Irrigation Engineer Kanthi Chandralatha.
The tanks or
wewas in the Malala basin were fed only by the rains. But long ago,
Woolf who had a vision had suggested that water should be diverted
to the southern dry zone to make it self-sufficient. In 1994, Irrigation
Engineer P.A.G. Paranamana wrote a small report exploring the possibility
of such a diversion. In 1995, a small group of engineers under the
guidance of Deputy Director G.V. Ratnasara produced a pre-feasibility
report in nine months. That was the
birth of the diversion scheme. A dam had to be built across Mau-ara,
coming from the Monaragala district - the waters, which otherwise
would have flowed to Mahagama wewa and onto Walawe Ganga and the
sea - a transbasin canal cut and the water diverted to Hambantota's
tanks including the Malala-ara waterway which dries up during the
dry season. A unique feature
of the project was that it was not given out on contract but carried
out by the Irrigation Department with directly hired labour. The
chain of command began with the Project Director, under whom was
the Chief Resident Engineer, who in turn had two resident engineers
with the work demarcated as headworks and canals. Under them came
32 junior engineers, including Kanthi. As most officers were reluctant
to come to such a remote place, graduates, from all three communities
who had just passed out from the engineering faculties were deployed.
The beginnings were arduous. The source or Mau-ara tank was in the
Uda Walawe sanctuary. After environmental clearance was obtained,
the work began. "We worked
day and night. First we lived under trees, then in rough tents without
proper food and water. It was like mobilizing a small army. The
workers were from the area itself and we became like one big family.
Gradually, there was an improvement in the living conditions of
the workers. The salaries paid out to these workers, amounting to
Rs. 3 million a month helped them come up in life. That was a bi-product
of the project. Every morning and afternoon, buns were given out
with cups of milk tea. Some of these people were so poor that they
would eat only half a bun and take the other half for their hungry
children back home," relates Kanthi. "Two-thirds of the
workers were women. They were dedicated and hard working." Now with the
project nearly complete, the irrigation engineers are justifiably
proud. The estimated cost was Rs. 750 million. But it will only
cost about Rs. 550 million. It's also a completely Sri Lankan job. The men, women and children in the Malala basin who ran behind vehicles begging for scraps of food and water are today living with dignity because of Mau-aru, adds Kanthi. High
yields A seven-acre
model plot cultivated organically in Wehera Pellessa has produced
a yield of 181 bushels per acre. It had been carried out jointly
by the Irrigation and Agriculture Departments.Wimalasena Senanayake
faced dire straits last year. He, his wife and five children ranging
in age from 10-16 survived only on drought relief. Of the 220 coconut trees in his home garden of two acres, 90 died leaving him in despair. No other crops survived. Now he has brought his paddy harvest in and his tiny cadjan-thatched home has bags and bags full of paddy. His yield this year - 181 bushels per acre. "Venadata vediya goni 30 vediyen thiyenawa. Anthima binduwata wetila hitiye. Then nam berenne puluwan," he smiles. |
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