Hakwatuna Oya Wewa

Hakwatuna Oya Wewa is a reservoir in Polpithigama Divisional Secretariat in Kurunegala District. Construction work of the tank commenced in 1957.
Hakwatuna Oya Wewa
Hakwatuna Oya Wewa

Hakwatuna Oya Wewa (Sinhala: හක්වටුනා ඔය වැව) is a reservoir situated within the Polpithigama Divisional Secretariat in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka. The ancient Viharagala Purana Viharaya is located about 700 m northeast of this reservoir.

History

Evidence is there to show that the waters of the Hakwatuna Oya (ancient Sankhamadhamandu-nadi), a tributary of the Deduru Oya River were dammed and diverted for irrigation supply in ancient days, at more than one site (Arumugam 1969). People believe that this is one of the great tanks built by King Mahasena (276-301 A.D.) of Anuradhapura. It was restored by King Parakramabahu I (1153-1186 A.D.) of Polonnaruwa.

The present tank was created by damming the Hakwatuna Oya flowing between two hillocks Kepitigala and Koragahahena (Arumugam, 1969). The construction work commenced in 1957 and finished in 1964 (Arumugam, 1969).

The Reservoir

Hakwatuna Oya Wewa is one of the tanks in the Deduru Oya River basin (Diyawadana et al., 2016). The reservoir bund was about 2,900 ft. in length and it had a water storage capacity of 16,000 acre feet by the late 1960s (Arumugam, 1969). The water extends over about 960 acres at its full supply level (Arumugam, 1969). The reservoir has 2 sluices and 1 spill (Arumugam, 1969).

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References

Books, Journal Articles

1) Arumugam, S., 1969. Water resources of Ceylon: its utilisation and development. Water Resources Board. p.369.
2) Diyawadana, D.M.N., Pathmarajah, S. and Gunawardena, E.R.N., 2016. Perception-driven coping strategies for climate change by smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka: a case study in Hakwatuna-oya major irrigation scheme. Tropical Agricultural Research, 27(4), pp.336-349.

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Attribution

To Whom

LankaPradeepa.com extends its gratitude to Mrs Badra Kamaladasa (Former Director General of Irrigation) for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.

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