Rs. 200 mn to conserve 103 rivers: Environment Minister

Rs. 200 million has been allocated by the treasury for the conservation projects of the total river network in the country, the Environment Ministry said.

The total sum was allocated following a request by Minister Mahinda Amaraweera for the ‘Surakimu Ganga’ project, which was already in progress.

Accordingly, the funds were allocated for this year for the conservation of 103 rivers in the country.

Under this task, district secretaries and district development committees have been requested and project proposals are also being presented.

The Minister instructed the Ministry officials to allocate funds immediately to several provinces for the projects identified to be implemented under the Surakimu Ganga programme.

Accordingly, Rs. 12.8 million for Monaragala, Rs. 4 million for Kataragama, Rs. 85,972,298 for projects on several rivers in the Southern Province, Rs. 35,007,033 for projects on several rivers in the Central Province, and Rs. 54,40,854 for projects on several rivers in the North-Western Province have been allocated, the minister said

Moreover, Rs. 1.1 million for a project related to Pahuru Oya in Gampaha in the Western Province and Rs. 3.9 million for projects relating to Ratnapura province and adjacent to the Walawe river are allocated, he said.

Steps have been taken to allocate the highest amount of funds for the conservation of the Kelani River, which is the most polluted river in our country.

Accordingly, the highest amount ever allocated for two projects in the Colombo and Seethawaka Divisional Secretariat areas, the Minister said.

Rs. 2,618,000 was allocated for the projects under the Colombo Divisional Secretariat area, Rs. 9,671,000 for the Seethawaka Divisional Secretariat area and for the conservation of the Kelani River, Minister Amaraweera added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)