Hon. Governor of Northern Province N. Vethanayahan personally inspected the Kanagarayan River rehabilitation works being implemented under the Provincial Development Grant Fund in the Kandawalai Divisional Secretariat Division of Kilinochchi District today – on Friday, 21 November 2025.
Severe flooding during periods when the Iranaimadu reservoir overflows has long been a major problem, displacing tens of thousands of residents from the three Grama Niladhari divisions under the Kandaweli Divisional Secretariat and destroying thousands of acres of agricultural land. The primary cause has been the failure to properly rehabilitate the Kanagarayan River.
As a solution to this problem, a section of the river was rehabilitated last year with an allocation of Rs. 10 million from the central Ministry of Agriculture. Building on that effort, Rs. 16.2 million has been allocated this year through the Provincial Development Grant Fund. Using these funds, work is now underway to widen the river—from less than 10 feet to 30 feet—along a stretch of approximately 3 kilometers, from the Velikandal junction to the Kandawalai paddy fields.
After inspecting the works, representatives of the Kandawelai Rural Development Society and the Kandawalai and Velikandal Farmers’ Organizations noted that thousands of acres of farmland have been protected from flood damage as a result of the ongoing reconstruction. They emphasized that flooding has already been significantly reduced in the areas that were rehabilitated earlier and requested that the remaining sections of the river be restored in the same manner.
The Governor was accompanied on this field visit by Kilinochchi District Secretary S. Muralitharan, Kandawalai Divisional Secretary T. Brunthakaran, Kilinochchi Regional Deputy Irrigation Director K. Karunanithi, and representatives of various public organizations.
