Iranian President to arrive in Sri Lanka today; special traffic plans implemented

Sri Lanka and Iran will sign five Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) today, in a bid to bolster the bilateral relations between the two nations.

The signing of the agreements will coincide with the one-day visit of Iranian President Dr. Ebrahim Raisi, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

At the invitation of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Iranian president is set to arrive in Sri Lanka today after wrapping up his three-day visit to neighbouring Pakistan. This is the first visit of an Iranian President to Sri Lanka since former President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit in April 2008.

During his brief visit to the island nation, Dr. Raisi, together with President Ranil Wickremesinghe, will participate in a public ceremony to mark the inauguration of the Uma Oya Multipurpose Development Project (UOMDP).

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Police has implemented special traffic plans in Colombo and Mattala ahead of the Iranian president’s arrival. The vehicular movement will be restricted on many roads including the Colombo-Katunayake expressway and the main road from Mattala to Uma Oya.

UOMDP, following the Mahaweli Development Project, is one of the largest irrigation projects in Sri Lanka. Its primary objective is to alleviate water scarcity in the southeastern dry region of the country by redirecting an annual average of 145 million cubic meters (MCM) of excess water from the Uma Oya basin to the Kirindi Oya basin, the PMD said.

Owing to the project, approximately 4,500 hectares of new land and 1,500 hectares of existing agricultural land in the Monaragala District will receive irrigation water. Moreover, the areas of Badulla, Monaragala, and Hambantota will benefit from 39 million cubic meters (MCM) of water for drinking and industrial purposes, while generating and adding 290 GWh of electrical energy annually to the National Grid.

The project encompasses the construction of two reservoirs at Puhulpola and Dyraaba, a conveyance tunnel (Link Tunnel) spanning 3.98 kilometers to connect the two reservoirs, a 15.2-kilometer-long Head Race Tunnel, Surge Shaft, Pressure Shaft, Underground Powerhouse, Switchyard, Transmission line, Tailrace Tunnel, and related infrastructure.

Pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) executed between the Sri Lanka and Iran on 27 November 2007, the Cabinet of Ministers had approved the execution of the contract agreement between the executing agency, Ministry of Irrigation and Water Management of Sri Lanka and Farab Energy and Water Projects (Farab Company) of Iran dated 28 April 2008 to implement the UOMDP by Farab Company, as an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract.