Gin Ganga (Sinhala: ගිං ගඟ; Tamil: கிங்கங்கை) is considered one of the important rivers in southern Sri Lanka. The chronicle Mahavamsa mentions this river as Galu Nadi in its chapter that describes the civil war during the reign of King Parakramabahu I [(1153-1186 A.D. Nicholas, 1963]. A granite block of stone with a 15th-century Crocodile Charm and a Talisman was discovered on the streambed of this river at Baddegama in Galle (Rohanadeera, 2007).
The river originates from the Gongala mountains in Deniyaya (Wickramaarachchi et al., 2012; Wijesiri, 2015). It drains part of the southern province and passes Udugama, Mapalagama, Agaliya, and Baddegama (Seneviratne, 2011). After travelling about 112.5 km, it eventually empties into the Indian Ocean at Gintota in Galle District (Seneviratne, 2011; Wickramaarachchi et al., 2012). It annually discharges about 1268 million cubic meters into the sea (Wickramaarachchi et al., 2012).
The streams draining to Gin Ganga include Holuwagoda Ela, Keembi Ela- Puhulduwa Ela, Galagoda Puhulduwa Ela, Unanviti Ela, Mamina Dola, Kudawa Ganga, Halpatota Ela and Kudubiri Ela, Divithura Ela, Maben Ela, Therun Ela, Gonala Ela, and Malamure Ela (Seneviratne, 2011).
River basin
The Gin Ganga river has a catchment area of about 932 km2 (Wickramaarachchi et al., 2012; Wijesiri, 2015). Nearly 83% of the catchment belongs to Galle District and the balance is shared by Matara, Kalutara and Ratnapura Districts (Wijesiri, 2015). The catchment
consists of mainly natural and plantation forests,
agriculture and settlements of communities (Wijesiri, 2015)
References
1) Nicholas, C. W., 1963. Historical topography of ancient and medieval
Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New
Series (Vol VI). Special Number: Colombo. Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon
Branch). p.73.
2) Rohanadeera, M., 2007. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon: Inscriptions of Ceylon: Vol. VIII. Department of Archaeology. ISBN: 978-955-91-59-64-3. pp.58-75.
3) Seneviratne, L.W., 2011. Environmental changes in irrigation and flood control schemes: a case study of Gin Ganga regulation project. A dissertation submitted to the University of Moratuwa as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and Management. pp.1,14.
4) Wickramaarachchi, T.N., Ishidaira, H. and Wijayaratna, T.M.N., 2012. An Application of Distributed Hydrological Model, YHyM/BTOPMC to Gin Ganga Watershed, Sri Lanka. ENGINEER, 45(02), pp.31-40.
5) Wijesiri, I.D., Chaminda, G.G.T. and Silva, G.H.A.C., 2015. Catchment Protection of Gin Ganga (River) as part of Water Safety Plan (WSP) in Greater Galle Water Supply Scheme (GGWSS). 6th International Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction Management 2015, Kandy, Sri Lanka. pp.169-176.
5) Wijesiri, I.D., Chaminda, G.G.T. and Silva, G.H.A.C., 2015. Catchment Protection of Gin Ganga (River) as part of Water Safety Plan (WSP) in Greater Galle Water Supply Scheme (GGWSS). 6th International Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction Management 2015, Kandy, Sri Lanka. pp.169-176.
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This page was last updated on 30 October 2022
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Rivers of Sri Lanka
