By Garvin Karunaratne
In the Fifth Century we built Yodha Ela in Anuradhapura District at a gradient of five inches in a mile. Today, we are begging for dollars from the IMF. Our leaders were fooled by the IMF and A country that was never in Debt, got weaned to live on loans and handouts . Our leaders are urged to put an end to this nonsense and think again to lessons from our past.
The Rajatarangani, an Indian Chronicle tells us that we sent irrigation engineers to Kashmir.
The Yodha Ela the marvel irrigation channel that brings water from Kalaweva to Anuradhapura on a delicately marked meandering route, collecting water from 66 mini catchments while it feeds water to 120 small wevas, following topographical contours”. meanders along with a single bund, using the natural lay out of the land as its second bund, thereby also providing water seepage and prosperity to the entirety of the Eppawala Area- a marvel in irrigation engineering, a precision in irrigation construction which defies the irrigation engineers of today.,
Once way back in 1963 as the Assistant Commissioner of Agrarian Services in the Anuradhapura District, I presided over the Kanna Meeting of all proprietors and farmers, in the Talawa Eppawela Area. Easily over 200 of them were belligerent, clamouring that the water from the Yodha Ela never flowed in time. The farmers were even about to manhandle the irrigation engineers. I was with them as I had repeatedly inspected and found that the water never flowed in time. With little knowledge of irrigation- a bright idea struck me. I told the gathering of a posse of irrigation engineers led by a Senior Divisional Engineer; I will provide funds, put a concrete base for the entire Yodha Ela so that the water will go to every tank in time.”. There was a deafening silence. The engineers did not reply, but were mumbling amongst themselves for a while. Finally the Divisional Irrigation Engineer spoke. We cannot provide a concrete base as the gradient is as low as six inches in a mile- a gradient of six inches in over fifty thousand inches.” It was an unexpected answer. How do you do repairs on the Yodha Ela now”, I quipped. Out came the answer: We take a very small section of the Yodha Ela at a time. Never any long length. ”. In short the most precision instruments of today cannot make a channel at the gradient our irrigation engineers built Elas in the Fifth Century.
Recently I came to know another marvel feature- The Yodha Ela has only one bund. The distance from Kala Weva to Anuradhapura as a crow flies is only thirty seven kilometers. but the Yodha Ela meanders along the topographical contours a distance of 87 kilometres. The Yodha Ela uses the natural terrain as the second bund and enriches the terrain with water that has resulted in the luxurious growth in the entirety of the Eppawela basin, while taking water to the tanks to Tissa Weva in the City of Anuradhapura. Though I had built irrigation channels over short distances in my minor irrigation repair works , and due to interest have seen and carefully looked at canals taking masses of water of water all over California, converting a desert into a luxurious land I could not believe of an Ela that has only one bund. My curiosity made me proceed to see this wonder of a single bund Ela(canal)
Yodha Ella Eppawala
On 23rd January 2024 I travelled in a small car a Nano from Colombo to Kekirawa and took the Mahailluppalama – Eppawela Road, purposely to see for myself this single bund marvel. I came across the Yodha Ela crossing the main road at Kunci Kulama Junction and as the bund of the canal looked good- a firm jeep track, I got our driver Siri to turn our car onto the bund. The bund was , very narrow with the deep water rushing on a side and a second thought flashed that we were in severe danger if the car falters. We proceeded forward as reversing would be more difficult. Siri drove with great care, but it could turn into a calamity if the bund was severely eroded. Generally I took over the wheel when escorting the Prime Minister Dudley when I was in Kegalla. But Siri was a good driver. I observed that there was never a bund on the other side. It was normal land, with trees and shrubs. We drove on this bund- eroded at places for over three to four miles upto a place where we came across the road to Tirappane crossing the Canal. The Yodha Ela crossed the road and continued, with its single bund. We drove on the road and in around 400 yards came to Ipalogama Village . Going towards Anuradhapura we came across the Yodha Ela again crossing the main road and observed again that the Ela had only a single bund. Driving along the narrow bund was extremely dangerous as the Yodha Ela water was rushing on a side and had there been a tyre burst, there was the chance of our car and all of us being drowned in the deep raging waters. However we dared to tell the tale of Yodha Ela, the single bund marvel that feeds the mouth of many a farmer in Anuradhapura.
Under the Mahaweli Development Programme a small section of this Yodha Ela was taken and a straight canal with two bunds was built. Replaced a section of the Yodha Ela with rapid and high discharge straight channel,” but it was a total disaster as revealed:
It is clear that the ancient YE has been constructed with detailed technical information controlling natural slopes, drainage divides, sedimentation, flow properties and sustainability. The method is properly drafted with unknown technical maneuverability. The modern engineering practices completely obliterated the natural flow mechanism embanking the flow both on the surface and within the subsurface. Considering other areas consist of similar YE remnants may be indicative of serving the same purpose so that YE is a technical mechanism established in the ancient hydraulic regime to supply sustainable water satisfying geo environmental conditions in the dry flat areas of Sri Lanka.” ( From: Does the ancient Yoda Ela in Sri Lanka represent a technical innovation of hydraulic engineers? A geo environmental appraisal R. D. D. P. Rathnayake, H. A. H. Jayasena )
Yodha Ella Eppawala
All this tells me that our irrigation engineers did wonders. I have seen, passed by many canals in Sri Lanka. In India and the United States but every canal I saw had two bunds.
The function of the Yodha Ela was not to take water only, but to saturate the entire area with water and therein lies the secret for the luscious growth in the entire terrain from Kalaweva to Anuradhapura.
If the new Yodha Ela diversion built by the Mahaweli Engineers in the Seventies, on a section of the Yodha Ela , which must be an eyesore and also a serious blot on the knowledge of the irrigation engineers, has not been totally removed and the original Yodha Ela restored fully, action may please be taken to remove it totally to enable the Original single bund Yodha Ela to serve the farmers. This seems held in secrecy. I would request any of my readers who live in that messed up area or anyone knowing anything about the Mahaweli misadventure on the Yodha Ela to please e mail me details.
Garvin Karunaratne
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