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Architectural Heritage of Jaffna restored

The court yard house at 199 Temple Road, Nallur, constructed in the
1880s, has now been restored to its original glory by Mr. C.Angelandren,
one of the most celebrated architects in Sri Lanka. It has now become the
Sri Lanka Archive for contemporary Art, Architecture and Design.
While the cataloguing and archiving are still in progress, it is now already
open to the public. Its opening ceremony took place on 26 January 2014
with C.Amalendran as the Chief Guest. With his characteristic eccentric
brilliance he stole the attention of the audience through his awesome
lecture. It is of great interest to note that Angelandran is the grandson of the
great mathematician, C.Sundaralingam, who was also renowned for his
eccentric brilliance, except that his chosen controversial political career
ended in disaster. I cannot miss noticing, with due reverence of course, the
legendary eccentric brilliance running from grandfather to grandson.
This court yard house is owned by Anushia Kumaraswamy, who is a cousin
of C.Angelandran. The Indian High Commission of pre-independent India
was located in this house and Mr.Kumaraswamy himself was the High
Commissioner for British India. At the invitation of Handy Peripanayagam,
Mahatma Gandi visited Jaffna around 1938 to engage in discussions on the
independence movement that was taking shape in Sri Lanka under the
leadership of Handy and the Tamil Youth Congress of Jaffna. Not only
Gandi stayed in this house at that time but later Jawarlal Nehru also stayed
in this house when he visited Jaffna around 1940. What a marvelous,
sensational and heart rendering history this house embodies! We are
privileged that such a historical treasure house has now been restored to
its original glory and turned into an Architectural Museum thanks to
Anushia and Angelandran for this philanthropic work. It has not only made
the heritage of Jaffna rich but has contributed to the architectural
excellence of Sri Lanka.

The staffs, headed by Sharmini, are managing this venue with great care
and devotion and are very warm and welcoming. Can you believe that I
discovered this house only by accident, which makes me wonder how
many more hidden wonders are there in Jaffna?
Sooriasegaram

Pipe borne drinking water supply and Sewerage system to


Jaffna
National Policy on safe drinking water
The Government of Sri Lanka, recognizing that access to safe drinking
water is a basic right of every citizen, is committed to the provision of
adequate quantity of safe drinking water to the entire population at an
affordable cost and in an equitable, efficient and sustainable manner.
In accordance with the above policy the Jaffna Kilinochchi Water Supply
and Sanitation Project was conceived to provide piped treated potable
water to 300,000 people in Poonakari and Jaffna, including all the islands
except Delft.
This project consists of extensive structural refurbishment works to
Iranaimadu Tank including raising its embankments by 2 feet, provision of
lift pumps, gravity and pumping mains for untreated water, pumping
stations, water treatment works at Palai, further pumping mains for treated
water, over 18 elevated water towers etc. It is a massive civil engineering
undertaking.
Total reliance on a single source of supply namely Iranaimadu Kulam to
cater the entire irrigation requirements of farmers in Killinochchi and the
surrounding area and also to draw water from the same Kulam to supply
drinking water to Jaffna, nearly all the islands around it and Poonakari
caused a great deal of concern to Kilinochchi farmers as well as the
recipients of drinking water. These fears are justified in light of unreliable
rainfall patterns and consequently unreliable water levels in the tank.
In order to alleviate these concerns engineers are now exploring several
other supplementary sources of water to feed into the present grid to
ensure rice and other cultivations are not sacrificed as well as to ensure
continuity of drinking water supply at all times. Government of Sri Lanka is
fully committed to arrange not only the necessary additional funding but
also committed to divert Mahavali water if necessary to supplement any

shortfall. There are also other viable schemes to consider in the future such
as river for Jaffna, salt water exclusion through barriers, making fresh water
lagoons to replenishing underground storage caverns with fresh water etc.
Under the above scenario the Killinochchi farmers will receive more water
than they have ever been receiving as soon as the bunds are raised and
subsequently when additional sources of water are included they will
receive even more water for irrigation, which will permit rice cultivation in
both seasons and also other high value crops including vegetable
cultivation where possible.
The fact that the drawdown of water for drinking water supply from
Iranaimadu tank is only 10% of its capacity, that it is going to be only in
stages, that more sources of water are going to be added to this scheme,
that irrigation water management will be in place, that water waste due to
leaks in canals will be eliminated, that the capacity of the Iranaimadu
Kulam is going to be substantially increased by raising the embankment by
2 feet and finally the numerous safeguards provided in the M.O.U will all
cumulatively provide more than ample protection for the Kilinochchi
farmers, who can therefore safely and happily permit drinking water to the
people of Jaffna, the islands and Poonakari while being able to cultivate
enough rice and other crops to their full capacity. They can rest assured
that their livelihood will not be compromised in any way.
The farmers concerns must also be seen in the context that Sri Lanka has
now attained self sufficiency in food for the first time since independence.
In fact we have started to export rice now. We probably now have to think
of investing in storage technology to store our surplus crops as a buffer
stock for periods of severe crop failures and for export earnings.
It is commendable that engineers have now got their designs and safety
factors correct by including supplementary sources of water. It is equally
important that they discharge their ethical and moral duty to engage with
the farmers and convince that it is a win-win situation for them. The farmers
must be proud of the fact that Killinochchi is providing both food and
drinking water to people in Jaffna, who will of course be grateful to farmers

in Killinochchi for their generosity. Important thing to remember is that as


producers and consumers both are sustaining each other. Sharing water
and food is after all our hospitality culture, which we must celebrate.
National Policy on sanitation
The Government of Sri Lanka is committed to providing sewerage system
to all densely populated cities of Sri Lanka to improve health and sanitation.
Accordingly the Project will also provide piped/pumped sewerage and
sewage treatment facilities to 80,000 people in Jaffna Municipality and
Nallur Predasabai. It will not only improve sanitation and health but will stop
the menace of sewage pollution in water in densely populated Jaffna and
the health hazards arising from the dumping of raw sewage in Kalundai,
Manipay Pradesa Sabai.

The total cost of designing and constructing the above mentioned irrigation,
drinking water and sanitation facilities in the Northern Province is
estimated to be Rs.18, 328 million, funded by Asian Development Bank
(Rs.10, 056 M), French Development Agency (Rs.5368 M) and
Government of Sri Lanka (Rs.2905 M). This excludes the cost of adding
supplementary water sources, for which the Government of Sri Lanka will
arrange the funds necessary.

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