The Mahaweli River (, literally "Great Sandy River";
'mahawali gangai'',
is a long river, ranking as the longest
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. It has a
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
of , the largest in the country, which covers almost one-fifth of the total area of the island.
The Mahaweli Ganga starts at Polwathura (in the Mahawila area), a remote village of Nuwara-Eliya District in bank Nawalapitiya of Kandy District by further joining of Hatton Oya and Kotmale Oya. The river reaches the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region.
Many South Asian and Southe ...
on the southwestern side of
Trincomalee Bay. The bay includes the first of a number of
submarine canyons, making Trincomalee one of the finest natural deep-sea
harbour
A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...
s in the world.
As part of
Mahaweli Development programme, the river and its tributaries are
dammed at several locations to allow
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
in the dry zone, with almost of land irrigated.
The production of
hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
from six dams in the Mahaweli system supplies more than 40% of Sri Lanka's electricity needs. One of the many sources of the river is the
Kotmale Oya.
Mahaweli Ganga
/ref>
There is a misconception in Sri Lanka that the Mahaweli starts at Sri Pada Mountain. The Mahaweli gets its source waters from Horton Plains in Kirigalpoththa and the Thotupola mountain range.
Tributaries
* Nanu Oya
* Puna Oya
* Pundalu Oya
* Kotmale Oya
* Hatton Oya
* Atabage Oya
* Nilamba Oya
* Nanu Oya (Peradeniya)
* Thalathu Oya
* Hulu Ganga
* Heen Ganga
* Beli Ul Oya
* Kirindi Oya
* Loggal Oya
* Uma Oya
* Badulu Oya
* Kalu Ganga (Tributary)
* Amban Ganga
* Gin Oya
Starting of Mahaweli
The Mahaweli River starts from Polwathura/Mahavila area with its water source starting from the Horton Plains National Park.
See also
* List of rivers in Sri Lanka
* Mahaweli Development programme
References
External links
Mahaweli River The Lifeline of Sri Lanka
Rivers of Sri Lanka
{{SriLanka-river-stub