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Hurulu Wewa |
Hurulu Wewa (Sinhala: හුරුළු වැව) is an ancient reservoir situated in Galenbindunuwewa Divisional Secretariat in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka.
History
The ancient Challura-vapi, also called Suralla or Surulu, is present Hurulu Wewa (Nicholas, 1963). It is said to have been constructed by King Mahasena (275-301 A.D.) to provide an assured supply of water to paddy and other crops (Amarasinghe et al., 2021; Arumugam, 1969; Nicholas, 1963; Silva, 2015). However, it was later ascribed to King Dhatusena [(455-473 A.D.) Nicholas, 1963].
The restoration work of the present tank was commenced in 1949 (Arumugam, 1969; Silva, 2015). However, the dam was breached due to the flood in December 1957 (Arumugam, 1969; Silva, 2015). It was restored again in 1958 (Arumugam, 1969). Under the Mahaweli Development Project, the tank was augmented by constructing a feeder canal (Amarasinghe et al., 2021).
The Reservoir
The reservoir is located in the Yan Oya River basin, the sixth largest among the 103 River Basins in the country (Abeysekara et al., 2015; Amarasinghe et al., 2021). The tank bund length is 2.37 km and bund lop width is 6.7 m while the height is 24 m (Abeysekara et al., 2015; Silva, 2015) The water of the reservoir extends in an area of about 4,ooo acres at its full supply level (Arumugam, 1969). It has two spills and three sluices (Arumugam, 1969). The catchment area of the tank is 8,067 ha (Amarasinghe et al., 2021).
Rainfall is the primary source of water for the Hurulu Wewa tank (Amarasinghe et al., 2021). There is also a provision of water diversion to the tank through a feeder canal.
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Hurulu Wewa |
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References
Books, Journal Articles
1) Abeysekara, M.G.D., Munasinghe, D.S. and Weerahewa, J., 2015. An assessment of returns to irrigation infrastructure investment: Hurulu wewa. In Proceedings of the Sixth National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Symposium 2015 on Innovations for Resilient Environment, December 22, 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2) Amarasinghe, U. A.; Amarnath, G.; Alahacoon, N.; Aheeyar, M.; Chandrasekharan, K.; Ghosh, S.; Nakada, T. 2021. Adaptation to climate variability in Sri Lanka: a case study of the Huruluwewa Irrigation System in the Dry Zone. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). pp.1-22.
3) Arumugam, S., 1969. Water resources of Ceylon: its utilisation and development. Water Resources Board. p.272.
4) 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.171.
5) Silva, E.I.L., Manthrithilake, H., Pitigala, D. and Silva, E.N.S., 2015. Environmental flow in Sri Lanka: ancient anicuts versus modern dams. Sri Lanka Journal of Aquatic Sciences, 19. pp.3-14.