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Dambulu Oya reservoir’s floating solar panel project on hold, says Mahaweli Authority
View(s):Pix and text by Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa
The Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority’s Board of Directors has decided to temporarily suspend permission granted to a private company to instal floating solar panels on the Dambulu Oya reservoir in Ibbankatuwa.
The project, which planned to cover 18 acres of the water surface, is on hold until the progress of pilot projects at Kiriibban wewa in Monaragala and Chandrika wewa in Ratnapura are reviewed, the authority’s director Nalinda Thilakaratne said.
Dambulla Mayor Wasantha Kumara Rajamantri said although 16 state institutions had given the green light to the private company for this project he had opposed the move.
Journalists raised questions about the solar power panels when Mahaweli Authority officials and the mayor attended a forest planting project in the area of the Dambulu Oya reservoir on Thursday.
Mr Thilakaratne said although permission had been granted to a company to generate electricity using solar power and construction work had already begun a decision was taken to temporarily suspend work until the merits and demerits of similar projects currently installed in Kiriibban wewa Reservoir in Monaragala and Chandrika wewa Reservoir in Ratnapura are reviewed properly.
The decision followed concerns regarding the permit process, issues raised in the environmental impact report, and growing public protests, Mr. Thilakaratne said.
Journalists also raised concerns about the impact of installing panels on the water of a reservoir that supplies drinking water to people of Dambulla, Kekirawa, and Habarana as large amounts of bird droppings could collect on the panels and pollute the water.
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