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Senanayaka Samudraya |
Senanayake Samudraya, also known as Inginiyagala Reservoir or Gal Oya Dam (Sinhala: සේනානායක සමුද්රය, ඉඟිනියාගල ජලාශය; Tamil: கல் ஓயா அணை), is a reservoir located in Inginiyagala in Ampara/Monaragala Districts, Sri Lanka. This reservoir was built in the 1940s when a dam was constructed across the Gal Oya River (Fernando et al., 2015). At present, it is the largest reservoir in the country (Fernando et al., 2015). The Galoya National Park is located around the Senanayake Reservoir.
History
The possibility of constructing a large reservoir in the Inginiyagala area was first identified in the 1930s by J.S. Kennedy, a British Director of Irrigation (Wijesundera, 2006). After many inspections and other planning processes the construction works of the reservoir was commenced in March 1949 (Wijesundera, 2006). The Morrison–Knudsen International Inc of California, an international firm of contractors, was awarded the contract (Wijesundera, 2006). Providing water for irrigation, controlling floods, and generating electrical power for lighting and for the industry were among the purposes of constructing the reservoir (Wijesundera, 2006).
The construction of the main dam of the reservoir was started in 1949 and was completed in November 1951 (Wijesundera, 2006). The power plant was connected to the penstock tubes on 25 November 1951 and water was issued through the irrigation outlets on 10 December 1951 (Wijesundera, 2006). The final works of the project were handed over to the Gal Oya Development Board in September 1952 (Wijesundera, 2006).
The completed reservoir was named "Senanayake Samudra" after the first Prime Minister of Ceylon D.S. Senanayake who was primarily responsible for getting this project carried out (Wijesundera, 2006). The reservoir was gazetted as a sanctuary on 12 February 1954.
Reservoir
The reservoir was build by constructing an earthen dam across the Gal Oya River, at a narrow gap in the valley by the Inginiyagala hills (Arumugam, 1969). The dam is about 3,600 ft. long and 140 ft. tall (Arumugam, 1969). The width of the dam at the top is 30 ft. (Arumugam, 1969).
Extending in an area of about 30 square miles, the reservoir was able to store 770,000 acre-feet capacity of water in the late 1960s (Arumugam, 1969). A concrete spillway of about 1,020 ft. long was constructed 1.5 miles far away from the main dam (Arumugam, 1969).
Senanayake Samudraya is a deep reservoir, with a maximum depth of 25 m at full supply level [(FSL) Fernando et al., 2015]. The water of the reservoir is primarily used for irrigation in Eastern and Uva provinces and in addition to that, the water is used to generate the hydro-electricity through the Inginiyagala Power Station that located immediately downstream of the dam.
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Senanayaka Samudraya |
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References
Books, Journal Articles
1) Arumugam, S., 1969. Water resources of Ceylon: its utilisation and development. Water Resources Board. p.163.
2) Fernando, W.R., Chandrasoma, J., Pushpalatha, K.C. and Kulathilaka, M., 2015. Co–management of the fishery of Senanayake Samudra, a large perennial reservoir in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Journal of Aquatic Sciences, 20(2).
3) Wijesundera, S.D.S., 2006. Constructions through the ages. Centenary commemoration publications 1906-2006. The Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka. pp.49-53.