AROUND THE SRI LANKA

Victoria Dam
The dam on 15th April 15, 2011. Three days after its 26th anniversary of opening.
Location of Victoria Dam
Country	Sri Lanka
Location	Teldeniya
Coordinates	07°14′29″N 80°47′05″E
Status	Operational
Construction began	August 14, 1978
Opening date	April 12th 1985
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Arch, double-curvature
Height	122 m (400 ft)
Length	520 m (1,706 ft)
Base width	25 m (82 ft)
Impounds	Mahaweli River
Spillways	8
Spillway capacity	8,200 m³/s (289,580 cu ft/s)
Reservoir
Creates	Victoria Reservoir
Capacity	722,000,000 m³(2.55×10¹⁰ cu ft)
Active capacity	689,000,000 m³(2.43×10¹⁰ cu ft)
Catchment area	1,869 km² (722 sq mi)
Surface area	23 km² (9 sq mi)
Power station
Turbines	3 × 70 MW
Installed capacity	210 MW
Annual generation	780 GWh
As of April 2011

Victoria Dam is an arch dam located 130 mi (209 km) upstream of the Mahaweli River's mouth and 4 mi (6 km) from Teldeniya. Its main purposes are irrigation and hydroelectric power production. It is the tallest dam in Sri Lanka, and supports a 210 MW power station, the largest hydroelectric power station in the country. Construction of the dam commenced in 1978, and was ceremonially completed by former President Jayewardene in April 1985.

History

The Victoria Dam was constructed under the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Programme (AMDP). The project had been in planning for years but was accelerated in 1977 to address economic difficulties within the country. The plan is designed to irrigate 365,000 ha (901,935 acres) of land and provide 600 MW of electricity. The Victoria Dam was originally proposed in 1964 after studies were completed by Canada's Huntings Technical Services and a team from the United Nations Development Program—Food and Agriculture Organization (UNDP-FAO).^[1] Construction of the dam was inaugurated on 14 of August 1978, by the former PresidentJayewardene with implementation of the main structures beginning in 1980. Its completion was marked by a ceremony on 12 April 1985. Construction of the dam and tunnel was completed by the British Joint Venture of Balfour Beatty and Edmund Nuttall, whileCostain Group carried out the construction of the power station.^[2] The consultant engineers on the project was Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners.^[3] The dam resettled about 30,000 people — four times the estimate

The dam measures 122 m (400 ft) tall, with a crest length of 520 m (1,706 ft), crest width of 6 m (20 ft), and a base width of 25 m (82 ft). The dam creates the Victoria Reservoir, which has a surface area of 22.7 km² (8.8 sq mi), gross storage capacity of 722,000,000 m³ (2.55×10¹⁰ cu ft), and a catchment area of 1,869 km² (722 sq mi).^[2]

Water from the dam is fed to the powerhouse at 07°12′00″N 80°48′21″E via a 5,646 m (18,524 ft) long tunnel, which houses threepenstocks of 6.2 m (20.3 ft) diameter. These penstocks created a net head of 190 m (623 ft), feeding three 70 MW 12.5 kV turbines, which are capable of generating up to 780 GWh of electrical energy annually.

Th dam consists of eight spillways, each with a width and height of 12.5 m (41 ft) and 6.5 m (21.3 ft), which automatically opens when water levels are high. The dam's gates, which needs power only to close, won an award for "Innovative Design in Civil Engineering" by the Institution of Civil Engineers. The total effective width of the spillways is 100 m (328 ft), allowing a maximum discharge of 8,200 m³/s (289,580 cu ft/s). Two additional low-level sluices at the base of the dam allows the purging of accumulated silts behind the dam.^[2]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That is is absolutely Amazing Place

(At Trip My Friend Taken Some Pictographs)

Mahinda Rajapakshe International Airport !!

President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Monday opened Sri Lanka's second international airport, funded by a $209 million Chinese loan, in his native district which he hopes to turn into a commercial hub.

Rajapaksa's latest effort to attract investment into post-war Sri Lanka follows expressions of concern by the International Monetary Fund and rating agencies about heavy external borrowing.

State-run television showed Rajapaksa launching operations at the airport, named after the president himself, by landing there in an aircraft of loss-making state-owned Sri Lankan Airlines along with a 213-member delegation.

Three commercial flights followed.

The airport is able to handle annually one million passengers, 30,000 aircraft movements, and 45,000 tonnes of cargo. Government plans call for expansion by 2015 to handle five million passengers.

Rajapaksa said the airport's location, about 200 km (125 miles) south of Colombo in Hambantota, will boost the $1 billion tourism industry by enabling visitors to bypass the capital and also help farm exports.

Rajapaksa has set improved infrastructure as a top priority since government forces crushed a three-decade rebellion by Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009. Plans call for $21 billion in projects through 2015, mostly with the help of loans.

"We need international funding. We have not hesitated for external loans and we will not hesitate in future as well," Rajapaksa told the gathering.

Sri Lanka has increasingly been relying on commercial loans from China since the end of the war, stoking concern in neighbouring India.

A document presented to parliament last month showed Sri Lanka had borrowed 411 billion rupees for 42 development projects ranging from a port to the airport, a coal-fired power plant and expressways from 2005-2011.

The government in July said its owed $4.9 billion to China, including interest payments in respect of $2.96 billion in loans obtained since 1997.

The IMF, which completed the disbursement of a $2.6 billion loan in July, last month raised concern over Sri Lanka's high external debt of over 80 percent of gross domestic product. Moody's Investors Service last week said the economy was facing elevated external pressure in the year ahead.

Rajapaksa said the Chinese presence was strictly for economic gain and had no political aim.

(Writing by Shihar Aneez; Editing by Ron Popeski)

A new era of opportunity – Uva Chief Minister

The opening of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport would help usher in a new era of opportunity to developing the mother land and have a positive impact to the economy of Sri Lanka, states Uva Provincial Council Chief Minister Sashindra Rajapaksa in a message to mark the opening of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) today.

“The opening of our airport in Mattala would also help bring in additional tourists to the Uva Province as well, helping them to see beautiful and historical places in our province.

“Our Provincial Councils are also looking at providing special services to this airport, thus providing a golden opportunity to us.

“The airport would not only usher in economic prosperity to the Southern Province, but also to the entire nation, the Chief Minister said.

Will usher economic prosperity - Hambantota GA

The Hambantota District had been overlooked for centuries not only by the colonial rulers, but, by successive governments as well.

However, due to the implementation on the “Mahinda Chinthana” by President Mahinda Rajapaksa who believed in equal wealth distribution to all districts, Hambantota today, is no longer a down trodden district, states Hambantota Government Agent R.C.De Zoysa in a message.

“Another advantage that Hambantota has is the fact that the leader of the country also hails from the same area. A master plan was drawn under the district planning programme which would be completed by 2017 taking Hambantota no a new level.

The Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport is one of the key pillars of this development programme which will usher economic prosperity to the province and help Hambantota to be a one of the best planned cities in Asia.

“I also take this opportunity to thank Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, MP Namal Rajapaksa and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa who assisted in the speedy development of Hambantota, the message states.

“The opening of the new Airport would also help the agricultural sector in several neighboring provinces as producers would have the advantage of exporting them direct rather than sending them to Colombo.

Tourism and many other sectors too would flourish in a similar manner bringing more prosperity in the future” the message adds.

MRIA, a blessing to tourism industry - Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman

“The inauguration of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport as the second international airport of Sri Lanka, marks a historical milestone, envisioning President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s prescience on the important role played by the aviation industry and its linkage in developing other vital growth sectors of Sri Lanka’s economy, states Sri Lanka Tourism Chairman Bashwara Senanka Gunarathna in his message.

“The new airport commences its operations at a time the Tourism Industry of Sri Lanka is experiencing a steady growth, recording more than 46% annual growth over the years. As such, Sri Lanka Tourism is delighted to witness the opening of the MRIA and feel confident that it is definitely going to contribute in a mega scale for the development of tourism,” the message adds..

“The Tourism Industry will greatly benefit from the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in various avenues, mainly as a tourism hub which would provide opportunities for passengers to reach value adding segments of the tourism sector, such as, surfing, whale watching, wild life, beaches, history and culture, etc.

These attractions are situated close to the Mattala Airport and introduced recently for tourists following the peaceful environment prevailing in these parts of the country, as a result of the establishing of peace, law and order in the country.

“The strategic location of the new airport would also be significant in around the Eastern and Southern Provinces to serve the purpose of the frequent travellers who wish to travel at short transit times to visit tourism hot spots such as Nuwara Eliya, Galle, Arugam Bay, Yala National Park, Willpattu National Park, etc. Reaching these key tourism destinations from Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport is less time consuming than travelling from the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

Civil Aviation Minister Piyankara Jayaratne has also highlighted that many tourists will prefer to take the Mattala Airport as their gateway to Sri Lanka in future years, considering this positional advantage and also considering it as an air-sea transshipment hub operation in conjunction with the Hambantota Port.

Further, the Government of Sri Lanka is currently implementing mega tourism infrastructure development projects in the North -Eastern and Southern coastal belts. It is strongly believed that the new airport would play a vital supportive role for the ongoing development activities and help investors speed up their projects by creating ease of access to sites and managing logistics of the projects.

“Under the guidance of Hon. Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Economic Development, a five year strategic development plan has already been implemented for the tourism sector from 2011-2016, based on the Mahinda Chintana -Vision for the Future - Development Policy Framework. It has been emphasized that Sri Lanka Tourism achieves its core objectives, serving the needs of all stakeholders and ensuring the economic benefits of the industry distributed to a larger cross section of society.

“We are confident that the new airport would generate many job opportunities in the surrounding areas and would also attract many tourism related service providers, like hoteliers, travel agents, etc. to put up new properties to meet the demand created by the travellers.

During this five year period, the country targets to attract US$ 3,000 million worth Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from the tourism sector and increase in foreign exchange earnings from US$ 500 million in 2010 to US$ 2.75 billion by the year 2016.

“In the backdrop of these initiatives, I believe the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport would be a blessing for the way forward of Sri Lanka's Tourism Industry and it will also serve the long term vision of the tourism industry of achieving sustainable growth, being in line with the national effort of making Sri Lanka, the Wonder of Asia” the message adds.

Horton Plains National Park, "Maha-Eliya" in Sinhala, is a national park in the highlands of Sri Lanka. It lies at a height of more than 2000 m in the central highlands, and its altitude means that it has a much cooler and more windy climate than the lowlands of Sri Lanka, with a mean annual temperature of 16 °C rather than the 26 °C of the coastsIf someone asked you the question where can be considered as the heart of Sri Lanka your answer must be Horton plains. Because it is the most important piece of land in Sri Lanka as it nourishes most of Sri Lanka’s main streams. And it also nourishes Bakers falls, Chimini falls which beautifies Horton plains.
When considering the history of Horton Plains it expands to the era of Rama Rawana. Horton plains are called Maha Eliya also. It is called thus because it is said that there had been a great fire in this area set by Hanumantha. It is also said king Rawana’s Dandu Monaraya (a kind of an air ship) had been halted on mountain Thotupala which situated in Horton plains.
It is considered that the pre historic man of Balangoda also has lived in this area. Through excavations fossils of wheat and rice seeds have been discovered, which proves the fact. The area has been named as Horton plains after the visit of Governor Robert Horton during British governed era.
At the entrance to the Horton plains there is an information centre which provides all necessary details about the place to the tourists. According to the information centre 50% of the things that can be seen in Horton plain are endemic to the area. (Kudarathmala, maharathmala and several spices of lizards and birds are examples)
Pigmy forest, disturbed grassland, grassland, bamboo thicket are the main Eco systems that can be seen in Horton plains. Due to this fact and the higher rate of bio diversity Horton plains has been named as a biological hot spot.
Despite the fact that there are many things to be seen in this beautiful forest in Sri Lanka, most of the visitors only go to see the Worlds End.
You can have a chance to stay a night at any of the 2 bungalows built inside Horton plains. (To reserve these bungalows it is needed to contact the main office in Colombo.) read more →

History - Colombo

As far back as the 5th century, Colombo served as a sea port for trade between Asia and the West. During the 8th century, Arab traders settled near the port and, in 1505, the Portuguese arrived. By the mid-17th century the Dutch had taken over, growing cinnamon in the area now known as Cinnamon Gardens, but it wasn’t until the British arrived that the town became a city. In 1815 Colombo was proclaimed the capital of Ceylon.

During the 1870s the breakwaters were built and Fort was created by flooding surrounding wetlands. Colombo was peacefully handed over when Sri Lanka achieved independence in 1948. A new parliament was built in Sri Jayawardenepura-Kotte, an outer suburb of Colombo, in 1982.

Isolated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) bomb attacks in Fort during the 1990s caused Colombo’s major businesses and institutions to disperse across the city. These days Colombo is spreading north and south along the coast as people migrate to the city to work

Holiday in Colombo

Holidays in Colombo combine the heady exoticism of the Far East with heaps of history. A major trading port for over two millennia, Colombo wasn't actually made the capital of Sri Lanka until the British took over the island in 1815. Today it's a fascinating mix of old and new, the futuristic World Trade Center towers soaring into the sky next to historic Ceylonese structures like the Old Parliament Building, now home to the Bank of Ceylon.

Travel to Colombo and you'll immediately be caught up in its electrifying atmosphere. Hooting tuk-tuks buzz around the alleyways, market traders peddle their wares on street corners, and the whole city seems to be a marvellous melee of sights, sounds and scents. What's more, if you're into souvenir shopping, cheap deals and bargains are there for the taking. Why not slip on a sari for size? It may not be the height of fashion, but it will be a great souvenir of your trip!

Nightlife is extremely limited with most residents opting for early nights. However, holidays in Colombo do offer plenty of opportunity for eating out in the evening. The myriad choice of restaurants around the city includes Indian, Chinese and European establishments. But there's nothing to beat an authentic spicy Sri Lankan curry, particularly if it's accompanied by a glass of coconut palm toddy from the southern lowlands.