The new Rs. 1.07 billion Water Supply Scheme at Tangalle commissioned by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa last week will more than triple the access of safe drinking water supply for those living in this area.

Constructed in 18 months, this Water Supply Scheme is a collaboration of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the provision of a sustainable supply of safe drinking water to tsunami affected families. The Tangalle project will see the supply of water swell from a current 2500 cubic metres per day to 9000 cubic metres.

The project, funded by UNICEF, will play a critical role in safeguarding the health of the region’s children, greatly contributing to the reduction of the incidences of diarrhoea, hepatitis and other water related disease, while ensuring that local residents, especially women and children, don’t spend hours each day fetching

"Today, through a tremendous collective effort between Government and UNICEF, we give hope and health to so many women and children who would otherwise trudge great distances to fetch water, and to the children who will no longer suffer from water-related diseases," UNICEF’s Representative in Sri Lanka, Philippe Duamelle said.

The main components of the new project include the laying of 42 kilometres of pipeline for transmission and distribution, the rehabilitation of existing treatment plants and construction of a new Treatment Plant at Nalagama, ensuring the extension of the existing water supply to Nalagama, Palapotha, Beliatta and Hathbodiya areas and the construction of four new reservoirs at Palapotha, Hathbodiya, Nalagama, Tangalle town and Beliatta.