NWSDB | RSC (Uva)

UVA RSC has been operating under an Assistant General Manager for more than 7 years so far. Prior to that, it was attached to the Central RSC until it was transferred under the administrative of the Sabaragamuwa RSC. There will soon be a separation of Uva from the Sabaragamuwa RSC and Uva will be elevated to become an RSC, headed by a DGM in line with the real provincial setup. The National Steering Committee has directed the study team to work along this line and consider the UVA RSC as one of the separate RSCs for the purpose of the study.

Of the two regions within the Uva RSC, Bandarawela region lies within the Badulla district while the Monaragla region covers the Monaragla district. The Manager O&M office is located in Banadarawela, while the District Engineer Badulla’s office is located in the Badulla town area to attend to the O&M functions and the consumer affairs smoothly and effectively. The Bandarawela region has 21 water supply schemes, 6 of which are fairly small schemes. Depending upon the size and topography of the schemes, OIC’s are being appointed to look after more than one scheme ( in some cases three schemes) other than the major schemes of Badulla & Bandarawela. More than 188,000 people are estimated to begetting safe water supply in the Bandarawela region. The daily production of the schemes is a total of about 26,870 m3. Ten water supply schemes are presently operating in the Monaragala region producing a daily average of 20,550 m3 to serve the population of approximately 85,000. Monaragala & Wellawaya are the major towns covered within the region. The Monaragala region has been established recently and is still in a developing stage. In general most of the water supply systems in the two regions have their own limitations to initiate expansion programs and maintain their level of service. During the dry spells of the year, even major town schemes experience severe shortages of supply due to water scarcity in their main source of supply. On the other hand, water quality problems are reported during the rainy seasons of the year either due to the inadequacy or inefficiencies of the existing treatment units. As a whole the management of water systems in Uva RSC is a real challenge except for a few schemes that have been recently augmented. The RSC in the recent past with the assistance from the HO (P&D) have already come up with integrated proposals for augmentation of major schemes and are awaiting for funding commitments to implement the proposals.