24th November 2020 21:03:13 Hours
The villages in Bogaswewa area located in the immediate vicinity of North and East boundaries, which were severely affected due to prolonged war. About 476 families live in this village.The main livelihoods of these villages were based on agriculture activities, and these villages are also traditional villages in Vavuniya District. Most of these villages are located in dry zone where rainfall is limited to few months in the wet season called “Maha”. By knowing this constraint in the environment the ancient people had constructed a large number of different scales of tanks for storage water which receives from Maha rains. Agriculture is the key economic activity employing a majority of the population in the Namalgama village. The tanks have been neglected for nearly 20-30 years from adequate rehabilitation and therefore, it was in abundant condition. Furthermore, the tank has become incapable of storing water for agriculture despite other livelihood requirements. This is due to damages to the headworks and canal system. Namalgama – Kuda Dikwea tank is not mere water storages used for growing crops but they play more significant roles in the entire livelihood system of the village. It has been observed that no human settlement in the area can be seen without even a primary village tank. The completed project can be viewed as a significant intervention in the process of reestablishing the disturbed livelihood systems in Bogaswewa area.
Founder of the Meth Bo Sewana Meditation Centre Ven. Thihthagalle Ananda Siri was stressing on the renovation of the Kuda Dikwewa tank to disbursed unresolved basic human needs. The project had been initiated on local and foreign donors’ financial contributions and it was purchased some plant engineer equipment for continuation. The Vavuniya Army Camp was criticized by the Meth Bo Sewana Foundation through their social media channels causing not provisioning of Plant Engineer Equipment on the project. The Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army has approved the request made by the foundation. Thereby, 8 Field Engineer Regiment grant authority to employ requested plant machineries and troops on the renovation task. During the battalion inspection visits the Chief Field Engineer, Major General AN Amrasekara USP ndu also had a visit to the site. Moment Ven. Thihthagalle Ananda Siri expressed gratitude to all troops and dedicators. Furthermore, it was described the perquisites of the project, which cause the to settled the inground water level around the area and could be mitigated drinking water issues during the dry season. Especially, the project demonstrated the construction of tank bund without employing compact rollers for compaction tasks. It was innovative and astonishing the knowledge of officers and plant operators.
Accordingly, this project was started on 19 August 2020 and completed on 20 October 2020. The 6 machine operators, backhoe loaders, and dozers were employed on the above said invaluable task. As request made by the Meth Bo Sewana Foundation following tasks were completed during this project;
a. Clearing the forest which is inside the tank (255m×140m).
b. Construction of the tank bund.
c. Removal of sediments and digging the tank bed into 2m depth.
