By The Morgahakanda reservoir water releases to the Mineriya tank have obstructed a great elephant gathering. The Morgahakanda dam project provides irrigation to the paddy fields and electricity to the national grid . However, environmentalists point out that the negative impact of this massive dam has not been taken into account.
The Moragahakanda Reservoir was constructed to channel irrigation water through a 28 km long tunnel to Hurulu Wewa for onward transmission through the cascade system to the Wayamba and North Central Provinces and initially there were no plans to release water from Moragahakanda to the Mineriya tank.
The Morgahakanda reservoir has been releasing water into the environment the Mineriya tank and the elephants who gather in large numbers in the nearby grasslands of the Mineriya have not been turning for the ‘ ‘Great Elephant Gathering ” which brings about 400 elephants together. Last year there were heavy rains and Minneriya tank water levels had risen and only about 50 elephants had gathered for their annual meet-up.
