Environmentalists and scientists trade arguments Was Uma Oya Project responsible for Koslanda tragedy?
Environmentalists and scientists trade arguments Was Uma Oya Project responsible for Koslanda tragedy?
By Niranjala Ariyawansha -Ceylon today 09/11/2014
Soon after the devastating landslide hit the village of Meeriyabedda in Koslanda in the early hours of Wednesday, 29 October, burying several lives and displacing hundreds, the blame game began.
The government authorities started blaming the people for not relocating to a safer place despite repeated warnings and the villagers found fault with the authorities for not providing them with alternative lands.
Ultimately, the government passed the ball to the Maskeliya Plantation Company, on whose lands the tragedy took place, for not taking proper steps to ensure that the people were settled in a safe environment.
The latest to join the fray is a group of environmentalists, who claim the ultimate responsibility for the disaster lies with the Uma Oya Hydropower Project, an allegation that is vehemently denied by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the Department of Irrigation and the National Building Research Organization (NBRO).
According to Vice Chancellor of the University of Peradeniya and Geology Professor, Athula Senaratna, the allegation made by the environmentalists lacks a scientific base.
He said the NBRO’s Landslide Hazard Mapping Division identified the landslide prone areas of the island in a survey conducted in 1989.
“According to this survey, the Uma Oya Project has a minimal impact on the landslide in Koslanda. We had warned of landslides in Koslanda in 2005. But, the Uma Oya Project was started later,” Senaratna told Ceylon Today.
However, Convener of ‘Green for Change,’ Prasad Ambalanyaya, said the damage caused to the soil when digging tunnels in the Uma Oya Project was definitely the cause of the landslide in Koslanda.
He argued that the long-term impact of development projects is a ‘definite factor.’
“If we admit this development, we have to accept this disaster too. Accordingly, the people are not completely alienated from this disaster. Eventually, the people are the victims of the environmental degradation caused in the guise of benefitting themselves,” he said.
Nature Unit Convener, Ravindra Kariyawasam, said since the central hills are bound by a single soil, digging in one place may have an impact on other places.
NBRO warning in 2005
Director of the NBRO’s Landslide Research and Risk Management Unit, R.M.S. Bandara, said the Uma Oya Project was not started when the landslide warning was first issued to the Meeriyabedda village in Koslanda.
“We issued the first warning in 2005. We informed the authorities about the threat. We asked them to relocate the inhabitants to safe areas as this place would be definitely destroyed. We conducted an awareness programme there in 2009 and 2010 as well. On 10 November 2011, a landslide took place there. We went there the same night and instructed them to relocate as they were living in a danger,” he said.
Uma Oya Project
The Government of Sri Lanka initiated the Rs 80,000 million Uma Oya Project in May 2011, with the assistance of the Iranian Government. It is to be completed in 2016. The aim of the project is to divert the waters of Uma Oya, a tributary of the Mahaweli River, which now flows to the Kirindi Oya, to the South-Eastern Dry Zone.
Describing the project, Uma Oya Project Director, Dr. N.S.K.N.D. Silva said, “The aim of this project is to supply water for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes to a community living in areas such as Moneragala, Badulla, Hambantota and Wellawaya, suffering from a shortage of water. The water, under the Uma Oya Project, to be used in electricity generation, is to be released to Wellawaya. About 5,000 hectares, in areas such as Wellawaya, Thanamalwila, Lunugamvehera may be cultivated anew with this water.”
According to him, the Water Supply and Drainage Board too will obtain 30 million cubic metres of excess water from the Uma Oya Project annually. “Several new reservoirs are to be constructed and 85% of the outcome of the project goes to the people in the Moneragala District. Ten per cent will be go to the people in the Badulla District, while 5% will be to the people of Hambantota.
“The underground powerhouse in Wellawaya is an additional objective of the project. I reject the allegation that the Uma Oya Project is the cause of the Koslanda disaster,” he said.
Longest tunnel and its digging method
A 21-kilometre tunnel is being dug from Diaberra area in Bandarawela to Wellawaya. It will be the longest tunnel pertaining to an electricity project in Sri Lanka. CEB Engineers Union Vice President, Janaka Aluthge said, “Two generators, each with 60 Mega Watt capacity, are to be powered by the waters from Uma Oya. We have planned to connect the power generated from the Badulla substation to the National Grid.”
He rejected the allegations made by environmental organizations.
“It is nonsense based on ignorance. You may remember the allegations regarding the environmental degradation when Victoria and Upper Kotmale Projects were underway. Environmental safety laws are very strict now. We have obtained all the environmental certifications from the relevant authorities. The environmentalists make this allegation baselessly,” Aluthge said.
Prof. Senaratna verified Aluthge’s statement and said he had conducted a survey regarding the technology used in digging the tunnel in the Uma Oya Project.
“The tunnel from Diaberra to Wellawaya goes at a depth of between 100 to 200 metres in the rock. The aerial distance from the tunnel to the place of the landslide is 15 to 20 kilometres. The drilling technique used in the construction of this tunnel is tunnel boring machine (TBM) technology.
The rock is gradually tunnelled under this technique. It is different from the old method of blasting rock. The impact of the shock waves emanated is minimal under this method. The vibration caused by the tunnelling is not felt in distant areas. On the other hand, the landslide site is 20 kilometres away from Koslanda. The tunnel is about 100 metres, vertically down, from the Koslanda disaster area.”
Commenting on people’s allegations that they have felt the shock waves of digging caused by the Uma Oya Project, Senaratna said, “We have equipment to measure vibration, we need more sophisticated equipment to measure the vibration that is not felt by humans, however, such shock waves can cause minimum effect.”
Geographical locations
The ‘power’ tunnel starts from a very high altitude in the Badulla District to a very low altitude. Diaberra is situated 3,500 feet above sea level and Wellawaya is at 1,000 feet above sea level. The gradient is about 2,000 feet. The length of the tunnel is 21 km.
“Beragala in Haputale is one of the highest places in the central hills. The slope towards Wellawaya is very steep. Koslanda is in the middle of this stretch of land. The soil there comprises deposits composed from thousands of years of landslides. The houses that were buried under the recent landslide were built on that soil. Although the soil is steady for some time, it can again slide when adverse conditions act upon it like what happened recently. That is what happened there,” said Senaratna.
Landslides and environmental conditions
Prof. Senaratna pointed out that there were several conditions to be fulfilled for a landslide to take place. They are over 100 mm rain in a brief period of 24 hours, steep land and claylike soil, which can hold a huge mass of water.
“Landslides are definite in the slopes of the central hills during the rainy season. The slopes in the dry zone do not have landslide threats. The conditions for a landslide do not take place easily. An earth tremor also can trigger a landslide,” he said.
Director Bandara pointed out that Meeriyabedda village had received over 520 mm rainfall in the three days before 29 October landslide. “Although rain had stopped, a huge mass of water had been absorbed into the soil. That was how the landslide had occurred.”
Landslide Hazard Mapping Division (LHMD)
As per the LHMD launched by the NBRO in 1989 with the assistance of the UN, each kilometre of the land of Sri Lanka was surveyed for landslides. Now the project is at the end stage, said Prof. Senaratna.
“Peradeniya University has studied general landslides fully. The LHMD was done by the NBRO. We have only contributed to it. Our students are engaged in the research and it is run by 20 geologists passed out from the Peradeniya University. LHMD can be guaranteed as a very successful and accurate project,” he added.
Worldwide, the engineers and the environmentalists stand in enemy camps. However, the service of both sections is equally important. Prof. Senaratna is Sri Lanka’s first Master of Environmental Technology.
“There is no debate that both the engineers and environmentalists render a yeoman service to the country. We must listen to both of them carefully. We cannot accept holding development merely for protection of environment. We need both environment and development. There must be a balance,” he pointed out.
When considered the above facts, it is obvious that the Uma Oya Project is immune of the charges of the environmental organizations. Then who is responsible for the Koslanda tragedy?
Director Bandara said the six line houses identified as danger prone by the NBRO were destroyed in the disaster. “We had urged to provide alternate housing for these 73 families,” he said.
Twelve days after the disaster, the Minister of Disaster Management and other authorities keep expressing contradictory data regarding the number of victims of the disaster. A human rights activist in the plantation sector commented about this situation: “Why don’t they give correct information? People have the right to know how many people died in this natural disaster. The government plays a number game to rid itself from the responsibility.”
Environmental organizations charge that the tone and words used by the Minister of Disaster Management reflected the underestimation of the value of lost lives.
The UPFA Government, which manipulates any event in any corner of the country for political advantage, even forgot to declare a national day of mourning to remember the victims of Koslanda tragedy.
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