HSBC entered into a strategic partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to help restore a traditional cascade tank system in Kapirigama in the Anuradhapura district. This would be done in accordance to socio-economic, ecological and spiritual beliefs.
IUCN Sri Lanka's acting Country Representative Shamen Vidanage, said that this project would give people access to water, enhanced agriculture, rural livehoods and environmental services in Sri Lanka.
“The restoration project would be carried out over a span of three years, with the help of the Department of Agrarian Development (DAD), the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Irrigation, the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, the Department of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Peradeniya, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and key local governing bodies and farmer cooperative societies,” he said at a media conference.
Vidanage noted that it is a unique and a traditional mechanism which started back in the 4th century B.C. It was used for over a period of 2,500 years to capture rainwater, so that such water could be used during the dry season to avoid floods and help society for everyday living.
HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives CEO Nick Nicolaou said, water has become a scarce resource which needs efficient management in order to provide communities with proper irrigation facilities for daily survival – be it in rural or urban expanses. “We are happy to partner with IUCN and invest in a project that would vastly benefit over 60,000 people with access to safe water for day to day living and livelihood development.
It is also a great opportunity for us to be involved in the physical rehabilitation of a tank cascade system that would assist in economic up liftment,” he said. Nicolaou said that their funds were sufficient for the entire restoration projects, which would take place three years hence.
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