Unnichchai Wewa is a major irrigation reservoir located in Unnichchai village in Batticaloa District. Its construction work was completed in 1919.
Unnichchai Wewa U nnichchai 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 …
