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River for Jaffna Scheme proposed by Late Eng.

Arumugam
River for Jaffna was the brainchild of Eng.Arumugam, who was an eminent and highly
respected Civil Engineer in Sri Lanka, a country renowned for its hydraulic civilization.
King Parakramabahu proclaimed that not a drop of water coming from the heavens in
the form of rain must be allowed to reach the sea without being used in the service of
man. These words of wisdom from Parakramabahu are a testimony for our people
friendly hydraulic civilization. Civil Engineering is the art and science of harnessing the
forces of nature for the benefit of man. In this sense Arumugams brainstorming to arrive
at the so called Rriver for Jaffna concept was and still is widely accepted as a brilliant
proposal. There is not a single perennial river in the Jaffna peninsula and therefore the
slogan River for Jaffna evoked hope, jubilation and sensation!

This proposal, which to date has remained at the level of a hypothesis only, relies on
transferring through an artificial link canal the surplus fresh water spilling over from
Iranaimadu Kulam s Dam and other hitherto unharnessed streams and rivers during the
rainy season into the Jaffna lagoons, which is already barraged at Arialai,
Thondamanaru, and at the eastern and western ends of Elephant Pass lagoon. The
idea is to repeatedly fill the naturally formed system of saline lagoons in the Jaffna
Peninsula, already isolated from the sea by barrages, in the hope that it will leach out
the brackish (saline) water from these lagoons into the sea over a period. By this
process of reducing the salinity of the brackish water in all the lagoons, it is anticipated
that the presently barren or uncultivable lands bordering the lagoons would become
cultivable and also the brackishness of water in many of the 100,000 wells in the
peninsula would be reduced or in some cases eliminated. To date the validity of this
hypothesis has not been tested or studied scientifically. In science all hypotheses must
be tested and proved through experiments. In this case it needs to be verified through
model studies, numerous tests, evaluation of horizontal and vertical permeability rates,
flow net analysis, various experiments, mathematical calculations and finally monitoring
in-service performances. In addition we have to take on board consequential
environmental, ecological, social, economic, livelihood and other issues in order to
ensure that the continued human survival in the Jaffna peninsula is not sacrificed.
Without doing such investigations we cannot talk about its implementation.

When man interferes with nature in such an intrusive manner by converting the saline
water in the lagoons into fresh water, the impact on bio-diversity needs to be studied in
detail by botanists, Zoologists, marine biologists, environmental scientists, sociologists
and economists. The consequences of implementing Arumugams River for Jaffna

scheme can be catastrophic. We have all the specialists we need to study these matters
at our door step within the University of Jaffna itself. We can, if necessary, mobilize
additional resources from other Universities in Sri Lanka.

Let us briefly look at the pitfalls we will be encountering.

1. How successfully we can convert the salt water lagoons into fresh water
lagoons? During the few months of heavy rain, fresh water gets added to the salt
water in the lagoon, raising water levels in all the lagoons. This will allow some
leaching process even without Arumugams scheme. There may or may not be
additional capacity in Vadamaradchi lagoon to receive much more water from
Elephant Pass lagoon. Even if there is capacity, the difference in water levels
between Elephant Pass lagoon and the Vadamaradchi lagoon is known to be
insufficient to provide the required hydraulic driving head to transfer water from
Elephant pass lagoon over to Vadamaradchi lagoon via the link canal. This
requires to be studied in detail.
2. If the issues in 1 above are satisfactorily answered, we can now proceed to the
next hurdle. Due to high evaporation losses during the dry season the
Vadamaradchi lagoon often becomes dry. Reverse leaching from the sea into the
lagoon may take place. The process of converting the brackish water in the
lagoons to fresh water may therefore take decades. The leaching and reverse
leaching rates depend on the vertical and horizontal permeabilities of the lime
stone and other strata underlying the lagoon and also the difference in water
levels in the lagoon and the sea. This requires consideration.
3. If 1 and 2 are resolved in favour of Arumugams scheme then we face even more
serious problems. They are of catastrophic scale indeed. The Arumugam
Scheme will most definitely destroy the mangrove ecosystems, which are
Natures most productive ecosystems gifted to mankind, encompassing a variety
of economic, environmental, and social aspects including carbon sequestration
for combating global warming and protection from erosion, flooding, cyclones,
typhoons and tidal waves.
4. Arumugams proposed reduction of natural salinity levels of water in the lagoon
will undoubtedly kill the mangroves and consequently the habitats of marine life,
insects, birds including migratory birds, butterflies, wild bees, mollusks etc. The
destruction of the mangroves will seriously affect the fishing industry and the
coastal ecosystem balance. The leaf-litter detritus from mangroves is vital to
marine life because it provides an essential source of nutrients for the trophic
food web for prawns, crabs, fish and many other species. It is estimated that 90

% of all marine organisms (178,000 species in all) spend some portion of their
life cycle within the mangrove ecosystems. Traditional coastal communities also
derive fuel, medicine, food and building materials from mangroves. They do this
without destroying the mangroves. It is only when one understands the extent of
the rich resources embodied within the mangrove ecosystem it will be possible to
appreciate the perils of schemes such as River for Jaffna. Readers must take
note of the following scientifically collected or proven facts:
About 60% of worlds population lives within 60 km of the sea coast. This is an
indication that life supporting resources are mostly located within this coastal
belt. Mangrove ecosystem is the most productive ecosystem in the world. It is
imperative that we must preserve it rather than destroy it through sheer
ignorance or innocence, to use a more polite word.
Human beings originated about one million years ago where as mangroves
emerged long before, about 30 40 million years ago. Mangroves supply forestry
products (firewood, charcoal, timber, honey etc.) and fishery products (fish,
prawn, crab, mollusk etc.). Due to the high calorific value, mangrove twigs are
used for making charcoal and firewood. One ton of firewood is equivalent to 5
tons of Indian coal. More over it burns producing high heat without generating
smoke! Why destroy such amazing things? Mangrove wood has a high content of
tannin and therefore provides durable timber. They are used for construction and
for making durable toys.
The pneumatophores are used to make stoppers, floats and pontoons. Nypa
leaves are used to thatch roofs, mats and baskets.
Shells of mangrove mollusks are used to manufacture lime.
Mangroves attract honey bees. In the Sundanan mangroves in West Bengal
alone, 2000 people are employed to produce yearly 111 tons of honey annually.
Mangroves (Avicennia) provide cheap and nutritive feed for buffaloes, sheep,
goats and camels.
Mangroves are used in indigenous medicine for reducing blood pressure, for
treating leprosy, epilepsy and rheumatic disorders etc. Tender leaves of
Acrostichum are used as vegetable and a beverage is prepared from the fruits
of Sonneratia. Extracts from mangroves seem to have a potential for human,
animal and plant pathogens and for the treatment of incurable viral diseases like
AIDS.

A hectare of managed mangrove system can produce $ 11,300 worth of wild fish
at par with intensive shrimp farming.
Ecologically it protects the coast from UV-B radiation, from greenhouse effects,
from the fury of cyclones, floods, sea level rise, wave action and land erosion. It
can even reclaim land from the sea naturally. Mangrove swamps acts as traps for
the sediments and as a sink for nutrients. The root system of the plants keeps
the substrate firm and thus contribute to a lasting stability of the coast. More
importantly, this ecosystem provides a source of food, breeding grounds and
nurseries for many food fishes and shellfishes and attract other kinds of wild life.
It offers protection to all associated flora and fauna in the ecosystem. I want to
now highlight the fact that the mangrove ecosystems are as productive as
or even more productive than good agricultural land benefits of
mangroves are 25 fold higher than that of paddy cultivation. This may put
the last nail on the coffin of River for Jaffna Scheme
Screening the solar UV-B radiation mangroves possess mechanisms to deal
with intense sunlight rays and solar UV-B radiation. The mangrove foliage
produces flavonoids that serve as UV- screen compounds. This ability of
mangroves makes the environment free from deleterious effects of UV-B
radiation.
Reducing green house effects Mangroves remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere through photosynthesis thereby slow down the green house effect
and the global warming process, more effectively than the phytoplankton in
tropical oceans. The mangroves have also high capacity for carbon storage as
mangrove biomass.
Minimizing the fury of cyclones and floods mangrove forests protect all types of
coastal communities from the fury of cyclones and storms. The best example on
record is the super-cyclone which occurred on 29 October 1999 with a wind
speed of 310 km per hour along the Orissa coast and played havoc largely in the
areas devoid of mangroves. On the contrary, practically no damage occurred in
regions with luxuriant mangrove growth. There are numerous examples but I
wish to cite one more example before moving on to deal with Tsumami. The 1970
typhoon and the accompanying tidal waves claimed 300,000 human lives in
Bangladesh. This disaster could have been averted or at least mitigated if
Bangladeshi government had acted with foresight and prevented the clearance of
thousands of hectares of mangrove swamps to pave way for paddy cultivation for
short term economic gains. What a disgraceful bargain!

Mitigating the fury of tsunami - mangroves mitigate the tsunami effects on human
kill and wealth loss. The tsunami of 26 December 2004 has caused human,
economic and ecological disaster in 13 Asian and African countries including our
own. The sea waves were generated due to massive undersea earthquake,
measured at 9 in the Richter scale, off Sumatra in Indonesia where two plates of
the earths crust, the Indian plate and the Burma plate ground against each other.
As the Indian plate pulled down the Burma plate, the two plates slid about 15 m
at once! This motion generated waves that spread in all directions moving as fast
as 800 km per hour. The monstrous waves have killed 200,000 people, made 2
million people homeless. However, it should be noted that the coastal
communities inhabiting areas behind the mangrove forests largely escaped from
the fury of the tsunami. Likewise a study on the effects of tsunami in 18 coastal
hamlets existing along the south east coast of India revealed that no human kill
occurred in the hamlets which were situated behind mangrove forests. Many
more such examples can be cited to prove the mitigating effects of tsunami by
mangrove forests.
Prevention of coastal erosion the mangrove system minimizes the action of
waves and thus prevents the coast from erosion. The wave action reduces as the
density of vegetations and depth of water increases. This has been
demonstrated in Vietnam. In the tall mangrove forests, the rate of wave reduction
per 100m is as large as 20%. Another study has proved that mangroves form
live sea walls and are very cost effective as compared to concrete sea walls and
other structures for the protection of coastal erosion. The message cannot be
clearer.
Trapping sediments one of the important functions of mangroves is trapping of
sediments and thus acting as sinks to suspended sediments. The mangrove
trees catch sediments by their complex aerial root systems and function as land
expanders i.e. land reclamation, the opposite of erosion. The sedimentation rate
is proved to be between 1 and 8 mm per annum.
In general more than 50% of mangroves have been destroyed in some countries
in the Asia- Pacific region.
In Indonesia, which contained a third of worlds mangroves, more than half of the
forests have been cleared during the 50 years of Suharto rule in Indonesia. By
1980 he had cleared 800,000 hectares of mangroves in Indonesia for
transmigration settlement. In this connection it is appropriate to remind readers
how Suharto came to power. In 1965 American CIA carried out a coup in
Indonesia, overthrowing the most popular leader in Indonesia, Sukarno and
installing the ruthless pro-US dictator Suharto. During the coup 1,000,000

Indonesians were massacred. This is 5 times the 2004 tsunami victims. In


addition to killing 1 million Indonesians to secure political power and destroying
the mangrove ecosystem in Indonesia, his other achievements include
Americanization of Indonesia, importing the American junk food culture such as
fast foods (Kentucky chicken, McDonalds, Doughnut factories etc.) Suharto
impoverished the population to such desperation that young married and
unmarried women and children had to flee to adjacent countries such as
Malaysia and Singapore to seek employment as house slaves similar to Sinhala
and Muslim women seeking employment in the middle east a sad tale never to
be repeated.
Most of the mangroves in Vietnam were destroyed during the Vietnam War,
where the Americans dropped more bombs in that small country than the total
number of bombs dropped during the entire Second World War! Another tragic
story.
These examples not only demonstrates the need to fight for the preservation of
Natures ecosystems but also conveys a powerful political message connecting
US aggression against weaker countries to create pro-US dictators and to
destroy the environment in those countries for short term private profit. Let us
therefore not follow Indonesias example and instead pay special attention to the
long term damage we may be causing by meddling with ecosystems delicate
balance. Arumugam lived in a period when awareness on environmental issues
were not given due importance. Being the caliber of a person he was, if he is
alive today he will, I am sure, definitely not sell his project without studying its
environmental impact. I am 100% sure of this. But Arumugams son trying to
promote blindly his fathers brainchild conceived before he had any appreciation
of ecological issues is not an acceptable and healthy promotion. In this
connection I also wish to highlight another important issue in relation to
engineering education in our Universities namely inclusion of an additional
subject covering environmental, ecological and social aspects so that our
engineers can serve our country by providing sustainable and people friendly
solutions to our problems.

Superficially Arumugams River for Jaffna scheme appeared to be a very imaginative


hypothesis. It also appeared to be harmless, people friendly and cost effective. Initially I
also fell for it. Through my interactions with Zoologists and Botanists from Jaffna
University and reading through some papers on Biodiversity in Mangrove Ecosystems,
provided to me by the Zoology Department, University of Jaffna, I have made a U turn in
relation to this project. So I have now become a whistle blower to prevent disasters in

the future. This scheme must definitely be abandoned, in my view. It not only fails to
achieve its stated aims in relation to drinking water supply, irrigation and conversion of
barren lands into fertile lands but it proves to be a human and ecological disaster. In
Kugathasans book entitled Mangroves and salt marsh plants he has included a map
of Sri Lanka in which he has meticulously plotted the mangrove forests throughout Sri
Lanka. In an enlarged map of the Jaffna peninsula he has plotted the mangrove
population in the Jaffna lagoons. His book is extremely well presented in Tamil
Language with very good illustrations. He will do a great service to our country if he can
translate and publish it in Sinhala also because we are together with our Sinhala
brothers and sisters in the fight against the destruction of mangroves in Sri Lanka. If
Arumugams River for Jaffna scheme is implemented, the entire mangrove population
in our lagoons will most certainly perish, not so brutally and cruelly as in Vietnam under
US bombing but will definitely perish rapidly due to loss of salinity. At this point in time if
you are about to say good bye and pay your last respects to the mangrove forests of
Jaffna lagoons please reflect on what they did to us and what we did to them in return.
We have to review our giving and receiving culture and our co-existence with nature.
If anyone is still thinking of reviving Arumugams scheme they must think again and
must be ready to put this scheme through intense scrutiny by professional engineers
with the active participation of biological scientists. I have done this exercise to enable
me to take a personal stand on the viability of this project and I feel confident that this
scheme should be permanently abandoned and all the lagoons must be left as salt
water lagoons where the mangrove ecosystem can thrive and flourish further. Do
nothing to the lagoons is the cheapest and best solution for our continued survival and
prosperity. No one so far had the courage to reject Arumugams scheme outright. At
present I am a lone voice against this scheme but I am hoping that it will provoke
widespread public discussion, at the end of which hopefully an informed decision will
prevail.
M.Sooriasegaram
Civil Engineer
18.07.2014

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