• The total cost of the project is US $ 321 million and the World Bank has provided a concessional loan of US $ 213 million

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the World Bank representatives inspected the pumping station at Nagalagam Street in Colombo yesterday, a statement from his office said.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, during his tenure as the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence & Urban Development, planned the Metro Colombo Urban Development Project in 2012. It includes 55 sub-projects and the Nagalagam Street Pumping Station is one of its sub-projects.   The main objective of this sub-project is to control floods in the city of Colombo and to avoid pollution caused by the depletion of water in the canals during the dry season. Five pumps capable of discharging 30 cubic metres of water per second into the Kelani River and two pumps capable of carrying 12 cubic metres of water per second from the Kelani River into the canals have been installed at the pumping station.  The total cost of the project is US $ 321 million and the World Bank has provided a concessional loan of US $ 213 million.