Priority for agriculture over housing, water supply and sanitation of Mahaweli settlers

The Mahaweli Ganga Development Scheme (MGDS) has been the largest multipurpose development project ever implemented in Sri Lanka, using the water resources of the river Mahaweli and related adjacent river basins. Of the thirteen independent development areas identified for integrated development and human settlement, System – H, System –B, System- C, System-G and System-L are either fully or partly developed and operational. The uses of water such as irrigation, power generation and domestic consumption are inter-linked within a basin. As both the quality and quantity of water available for downstream users depend on the activities of the upstream users. However, during the last three decades, the emphasis has been to increase crop production and productivity of land and water, over the development of essential infrastructure. This trend has been so established in agriculture based settlement projects, even the international funding agencies do not attach much importance to the provision or improvement of infrastructure facilities.