Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-06-20

Conducting a Feasibility study on the construction of Wee Oya Reservoir in the Kelani river basin and the Yatimahana Reservoir in the Ma Oya basin

- Presently, the National Water Supply & Drainage Board experiences difficulties in the intake of the required quantities of water for water treatment plants operated from the Ma Oya and the Kelani River during the periods of dry weather. This situation will adversely affect the planning and implementation of the water supply schemes anticipated even in the future.

As a solution to the issue, it has been planned to construct the proposed MCM 19 capacity Wee Oya Reservoir by the Kelani River and the proposed MCM 12.7 capacity Yatimahana Reservoir by the Ma Oya. As such, the proposal made by Hon. Rauff Hakeem, the Minister of City Planning and Water Supply, to award the contract for conducting a feasibility study on the proposed upstream reservoir construction to Ms. Mahaweli Consultancy Bureau (Pvt.) Ltd., was approved by the Cabinet.