Oct 25 2016.
views 739Ask the Minister: Matters of Public Interest
A Chat With Vasantha Senanayake, State Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources
Some of our readers will be very interested in getting to know the progress of the present government and the future plans of the Ministers. With the endeavour of creating awareness in this regard, Daily Mirror Life met up with some Ministers and asked them a few questions. Their answers will be carried in this weekly column. This week, we speak to Vasantha Senanayake, State Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources.
Your great grandfather was famous for the agriculture and irrigation work he did for the country and now you are handling irrigation. How does it feel?
It is of tremendous importance to have got this Ministry as this is a Ministry that was held by my great grandfather Hon D.S Senanayake. Also, I am fortunate to get this Ministry connected to Irrigation and Agriculture as it is pertinent to the District I represent – Polonnaruwa.
Sri Lanka distinguishes itself and stands out uniquely partly because of its irrigation systems. Our hydro culture is the most superior Hydraulic system in the world which is unique only to Sri Lanka. It predates anything found in any other country. It has a lot to do with our own identity.
Our hydraulic civilization is not borrowed from a pre-existing civilization. It is the oldest irrigational model in the world.
What are the factors that contribute to the severe drought conditions faced by our farmers?
One of the factors that contribute to the problems we have during the drought is that the water management has been very poor. In these irrigational systems we lose a lot of water due to seepage and things like that. Secondly, it’s due to farmers still using age old systems like flood irrigation. For paddy cultivation they flood the paddy field with water when you would really need less than 5% of the water they use.
In Sri Lanka you see paddy fields constantly full of water but the paddy plant doesn’t require so much of water. It needs only as much as a blade of grass does. But it can survive in a water logged situation also. For convenience we have got used to flooding paddy fields. What this does is create water wastage and prevents water from being conserved.
So isn’t there some sort of drip irrigation method or some new system that can be introduced to stop this kind of water wastage?
In Korea they have a method where they cover the entire paddy field with a thick sheet of polythene which is penetrated with little holes and the paddy seed is put into that little hole and it goes into the soil. The only exposure to the soil is where the hole is. Then that hole is watered with drops of water. It’s a drip irrigation system made even more efficient. Then in time you find huge plants popping out of those little holes. It covers the whole polythene sheet and you don’t see the polythene sheet after a while. Japan also has something similar.
It is not easy to get our farmers used to these systems as they need to do a little more work than just opening the water channel for the water to come in.
Are these methods practical for Sri Lanka?
If we are willing to put in a bit of hard work, yes it can be done. But the point here is, the farmers are not willing to change. They want to use the age old systems that were used when the population was just 6 million at the time we got independence. Now the population has increased to 21 million but the land and water has not increased. We have to find a method which is less water intense.
Moragahakanda is a project to give the North Central province water. When doing this kind development work a lot of forestry gets destroyed. We need to replace it in some way and have reforestation. If we are not careful we are going to face a lot of issues with ground water levels dropping significantly. Wells and springs will dry up.
Any suggestions as to how farmers can get a higher income?
Intercropping is the best solution for this. In between the Yala and Maha seasons, farmers don’t do anything. The fields are also just empty and unused. They should start growing a two to three month short term crops during this interim period. Mung Beans, Kurakkan and many other crops we import can be grown here.
You used to be a very active minister when you were handling wildlife. We used to see you frequently on news regarding elephant related issues. Any comments?
Being the Deputy Minister of Wildlife was more than a ministerial appointment to me. It was a passion and a hobby as I have been interested in wild life from the time I was a child. Every single day we were doing something. The wildlife sector and officials who were sleeping for so many years were suddenly energized because the minister was taking so much of interest. I really should have been allowed to be in that ministry and I’m sorry that I was changed; not for myself but for the massive devastation in Wild Life and deforestation that is happening now.
Had I been allowed to be in wildlife, I could have played a more proactive role preventing the massive deforestation that is happening today everywhere in the country unchecked. There’s also massive poaching and killing of elephants and other animals due to ‘Hakka Patas’ being used.
The Minister is a very well-meaning Minister but the only thing is that someone younger and more dynamic needs to be there as it’s a hands on job.
The Hakka Pattas is supposed to be a very treacherous method of killing animals and is seen frequently in the recent past in areas like Anuradhapura, Mannar, Vavuniya and Puttalam. How does this work?
It’s really a slow death for the elephants. What it does is, it explodes in the mouth of the elephant. It dies by not being able to eat and drink. They really suffer for days before dying. It affects other animals like wild boar, deer and sambhur also.
Some people were of the view that you wanted to stop Peraheras. Is this true?
I had no intention at all of stopping Peraheras. I think it’s a lovely pageant that needs to be continued over and over again in Sri Lanka. This is nothing against Buddhism, but there is a method of obtaining an elephant for cultural purposes. You cannot just go into a jungle and shoot the mother with a tranquilizer, which sometimes kills the mother, and take the baby. The mother is aware and conscious when the baby elephant is being stolen. She wakes up in so much rage because of loss of her baby that she often ends up destroying a village nearby.
Also, we should have only a few main significant Peraheras that we have been having for many centuries. Now every little temple in every little village wants to have a Perahera, and even if you catch all the elephants in the wild, it won’t be enough for all these Peraheras. That is the problem.
Finally, a lot has been written about ministers and the perks they enjoy. What do you have to say about that?
A website of a popular newspaper published a very defamatory and horrendous article about me, stating that I have asked for an expensive vehicle for myself. Up to date I have not got the quota of vehicles that a Minister should get. I am using my personal vehicles for much of my work including going several times a week to Polonnaruwa. And if you check my track record, I have never used Ministry funds even once to go abroad since taking up this appointment. When making accusations I think journalists should report in a more ethical and responsible manner.
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1 Comments
ANTON says:
Oct 26, 2016 at 11:56 amONE MORE FINAL QUESTION SIR, DO YOU KNOW THE NORMAL AVERAGE PRESSURE OF DOMESTIC WATER LINE. ???