Intervention of CIDA restore project for providing safe drinking water to the villages Palameenmadu and Puthukkudiyiruppu

Abstract

The water crisis is one of the most significant issues in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami inclusive of Batticaloa district. The people those who are living in the Batticaloa district especially in Tsunami affected areas are suffering to get drinking water. The CIDA restore project targeted Palameenmadu and Puthukkudiyiruppu areas in order to find out the quality of drinking water. The questionnaire survey showed that even though 100% of the people from these two villages mainly depended on their home well to get drinking water before the Tsunami, none of them use their well for drinking purposes after the Tsunami. Based on this survey it was decided to test the water quality parameters in order to provide safe drinking water. There are 332 and 252 families in the Puthukkudiyiruppu and Palameenmadu areas respectively. It was very difficult to convince them to use their well, because they believed some wrong information about their drinking well water. Several kinds of activities and workshops were undertaken to remove their myths and to disseminate knowledge about the drinking water quality. At present all the villagers have started to use wells for drinking purpose after some practical activities and workshops.