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Unnichchai Tank |
Unnichchai Wewa (Sinhala: උන්නිච්චායි වැව, උන්නච්චිය ජලාශය; Tamil: உன்னிச்சைக் குளம்) is a major irrigation reservoir located in Unnichchai village in Manmunai West DS Division in Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka. It is considered the oldest irrigation settlements scheme in the district (Partheepan et al., 2016). It is also the first new major reservoir built by the Irrigation Department.
History
The present reservoir was constructed by building an embankment across the Magalavattuvan Aru River. Although the initial plan in 1892 was to restore the village tank named Oniche, engineers found that there is a potential for a large reservoir. The proposals to construct the tank were framed in 1902 and the work was completed in 1919 (Arumugam, 1969). Althought the tank was breached during the cyclonic floods on 25 December 1957, it was restored and strengthened in 1959-1960 by the Irrigation Department.
The Reservoir
Unnichchai Wewa is one of the reservoirs located in the Magalavatavan Aru River basin. Its bund is about 6,200 m long and had a storage capacity of 30,500 acre feet by the late 1960s (Arumugam, 1969). The water extends over about 2,500 acres at its full supply level (Arumugam, 1969). The catchment of the tank is 106.00 square miles (Partheepan et al., 2016). Its dam is comprised with six sections and supported with three spillways. The capacity of the reservoir was raised on three occasions, viz: in 1967, in 1974 and in 1979 making the capcity as 40,800 ac.ft.
The waters of the reservoir is used for paddy cultivation during both Maha and Yala seasons. The issued water and spilled water are ultimately discharged into the north portion of the Batticaloa lagoon at Makilavadduvan (Partheepan et al., 2016; Thayananth et al., 2008).
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References
Books, Journal Articles
1) Arumugam, S., 1969. Water resources of Ceylon: its utilisation and development. Water Resources Board. p.187.
2) Partheepan, K., Acharjee, S., Thayanath, S. and Murgante, B., 2016. A remote sensing and geo-informatics approach in watershed planning of irrigation tanks connected with Batticaloa Lagoon: A case study of Unnichchai Watershed. Space and time visualisation, pp.195-206.
3) Thayananth, S., Santharooban, S., Manobavan, M. and Fernando, G.W.A.R., 2008. Modelling the influences of Unnichchai irrigation tank on the Batticaloa lagoon. Tropical Agricultural Research Vol. 20. pp.326-335.
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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.