DUTCH CANALS IN SRI LANKA One of the major Dutch achievements in Sri Lanka was the building of canals to function as commercial waterways. The Dutch constructed canals which linked streams, lakes and lagoons, creating a continuous line of waterways between the interior and the ports. These waterways were sheltered from the monsoon winds that made coastal transportation by sea sometimes difficult or dangerous. The rivers brought sand and sediment on to the sea coast. This sand and soil, instead of being carried out to sea got heaped up at the shores and formed bars at the river mouth. The river water flowed elsewhere in search of outlets. In this way, chains of lakes and shallow lagoons were formed, for considerable distances along the coasts. THE CANAL SYSTEM Most likely the first canal was the one that originated from the Kelani River through to Muturajawela and to Pamunugama. It had been started by the Portuguese and completed by the Dutch. This was thereafter extended by way of lagoons, backwaters and rivers, to the Maha Oya, then 80 km on to Puttalam and 30 km more across the Puttalam Lake to Kalpitiya. To facilitate commerce the Dutch built several canals in Colombo as well. The most valuable was the San Sebastian canal. It originated at Grandpass near the present Victoria Bridge, a point on the Kelani River north of Colombo, at that time an inland port, and went through Bloemendhal, Hulftsdorp hill to the Beira Lake and on to the Colombo water front. TRANSPORT AND FLOOD PROTECTION Enormous cargos of copra, cinnamon, pepper, fiber, arrack and other articles of trade went down the North and the South Colombo canal systems into San Sebastian Canal, to be transported from Grandpass to the Colombo water front and loaded into ships. The Colombo rendezvous for the large canal traffic was the Grandpass, the ferry on the bend of the Kelani River. Part of San Sebastian canal is in use to this day. This system also acted as a protection against flooding. The Mulleriyawa tank in the lower reaches of the Kelani River is a great example of a combined flood protection and irrigation scheme. The Dutch also constructed canal systems in Galle and Matara, to facilitate transport of agricultural produce and for floating timber down from the forests of the hinterland. Galle had two canals of around 20 and 30 miles each. The Keppu Ela, starting from the Gin Ganga meanders over twenty miles of suburb to the sea at Mahamodera, with flood outlets. There is a subsidiary canal traceable to this day, known as Muwangoda Ela. It brought timber from Nagoda, Udugama and sugar from Ukwatta up to Mahamodera. Another canal system of about 30 miles was based on the Polwatta Ganga at Weligama and the Nilwala Ganga flowing by the Matara Fort. The best canals are in Batticaloa. There was a 31 mile canal from Batticaloa to Samanthurai. The northern regions of Batticaloa were also similarly given a series of canal cuts, by which water was provided from Vanderkoen Bay (20 miles north of Batticaloa) making possible a continuous line of canal transport 57 miles long. Part of this canal system served also as flood protection schemes. Some are in use to this day, controlling flood water on the coast between Batticaloa and Kalmunai, off the Nilwala Ganga at Matara, and in the northern suburbs of Colombo. There were canals planned to go south as well. A canal connecting Nedimala and Kotte to provide a continuous water way from the Kelani River to the Kalu Ganga, was under construction in 1743, but never completed. WATER SUPPLY One of the most important constructions build by the Dutch is the Urubokke Dam. The Urubokke Dam took water from a perennial river on one side of a mountain range to a non-perennial river on the other side and had a great impact on rice production in those areas. It was an impressive engineering feat which successfully surmounted the disadvantage of a climatic barrier which left one side of a mountain range plentifully supplied with rain and the other side subject to long periods of drought. The Dutch constructed a dam across the upper affluent of a river in the Matara district, formed a reservoir and dropped the surcharge water from it on to the other side of a mountain range called Rammeli Kanda. From there it was linked to a non-perennial river on the opposite side of the hills, which was dry half of the year. This provided a reliable supply of water for several thousands of acres of paddy as far as Ranna in the parched Giruwa Pattu. The Urubokke Dam has been described as the first new irrigation project in the island since the days of the Polonnaruwa kings. Others say that most engineers consider the Urubokke dam as undoubtedly the masterpiece of Dutch irrigation engineering. Even today The Netherlands is the global expert in water solutions for flood protection, safe drinking water, wastewater management and maritime infrastructure. Dutch water experts are involved in many projects all over the world. For more information on recent projects and Dutch innovation visit: hollandtrade/sector-information/water/
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 04:00:01 +0000
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