Impact of Socioeconomic Factors and Environmental Changes on Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 355

395 per km 2 (Population Survey 2011). The high population density and
sustained efforts to improve living standards have exerted tremendous
pressure on the natural environment of the highlands. Unplanned urban
population growth has exerted pressure on the Central Highlands and
water resources in the cities as well as peripherals with impacts on sewage
disposal, waste management and environmentally related health problems.
The high proportion of the poor and the growing population, combined
with an unequal distribution of benefi ts from natural resources, make a
sustainable development in the Sri Lankan Highlands quite a challenging
task. According to the independent evaluation group study on the Mahaweli
Development Program, a substantial rudiment of the population, who
disliked leaving their original villages, migrated to the higher elevation
areas. This worsened the living standard there as they only have access to
miniscule land holdings prone to environmental risk.
Multipurpose development program
Due to the geographical confi guration with a rain fed central hill zone, the
upper catchment of all the major rivers of Sri Lanka are situated and the area
enjoys a high hydropower potential. In 1968, to get the best benefi ts from
such a massive water resource, a major, multi-purpose development plan
named Mahaweli Development Program (MDP) (Fig. 15.5) was initiated
with the help of UNDP and FAO funding and was expected to cover a period
of 30 years (Peiris 2006). The Mahaweli River, Sri Lanka's largest river (325
km) with an annual discharge of 7,650 million m 3 also has by far the largest
catchment area (10,327 km 2 ) covering one sixth of the country (NSF 2000).
The Mahaweli River Development Program is the largest integrated rural
development multi-purpose program ever undertaken in Sri Lanka and
was based on the water resources of Mahaweli and six allied river basins.
The main objectives were to increase agricultural production, hydropower
generation, employment opportunities, settlement of landless poor and
fl ood control. The program, originally planned for the implementation over
a 30-year period, was brought to acceleration in 1979, with incorporation of
Mahaweli Authority (The World Bank 2012). At present, the country gains
benefi t from this project and major hydropower potential will be fully
developed in the Upper Mahaweli Catchment (UMC) mainly to generate
hydropower, which contributes to about 40-50% of the total hydropower
production in the country and also sustains 90% paddy and other crops
cultivation in the low land of Sri Lanka (Tolisano 1993).