Mapakada Wewa

Mapakada Wewa is a picturesque ancient reservoir in Mahiyangana, believed to have been constructed between the 5th and 8th centuries CE. It receives water diverted from the Heppola Oya. After remaining abandoned for several centuries, the reservoir was restored in the mid-20th century, and farming families were resettled under the irrigation scheme.

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Mapakada Wewa is an ancient, medium-sized irrigation reservoir situated in the Mahiyangana Divisional Secretariat Division of the Badulla District, in Sri Lanka’s Uva Province. Located near the 19th-mile post along the Mahiyangana–Bibile main road, the reservoir with a 1900 feet (580 meter) embankment forms an important part of the historic irrigation landscape of Binthenna. This region is renowned for its early human settlements, rich indigenous heritage and close association with the Mahaweli River basin.

The reservoir receives diverted water through a feeder canal connected to a weir constructed across the Heppola Oya (හෙප්පොල ඔය), a major tributary within the wider Mahaweli River catchment. In addition to this supply, the reservoir collects runoff from its immediate catchment area of approximately 7.77 km² (3 square miles). At full supply level, Mapakada Wewa has a storage capacity of approximately 8.26 millioncubic metres (6,700 acre-feet).

Historical Details

Although early historical chronicles do not explicitly identify the ruler responsible for its construction, scholars place the origins of Mapakada Wewa within the Middle to Late Anuradhapura period, approximately between the 5th and 8th centuries CE. This was a period during which royal administrations systematically expanded river-diversion schemes and medium-sized storage reservoirs along the eastern tributaries of the Mahaweli River.

Following the decline of the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa kingdoms in the 13th century CE, political power gradually shifted towards the southwestern and central hill regions. As a result, the complex trans-basin irrigation systems and interconnected reservoir networks of the Dry and Intermediate Zones fell into disrepair.

Over the following centuries, severe monsoon floods breached the earthen embankment of Mapakada Wewa and destroyed the diversion weir across the Heppola Oya. The agricultural settlements that had once flourished around the reservoir gradually disappeared, and the area reverted to dense tropical forest inhabited by indigenous Vedda communities and diverse wildlife. During the Kandyan period, the abandoned reservoir bed remained overgrown and was known mainly to local forest dwellers as a natural swamp and seasonal hunting ground.

Restoration and Resettlement

Renewed national interest in restoring Sri Lanka’s ancient irrigation infrastructure during the mid-20th century led the Irrigation Department of Ceylon to select Mapakada Wewa for comprehensive rehabilitation as part of the post-independence land development and settlement programmes.

Between 1952 and 1962, the Irrigation Department undertook detailed engineering surveys to identify the original alignment of the ancient embankment and the feeder canal from the Heppola Oya. During this period, the main earthen embankment was reconstructed, modern concrete sluice structures were installed, and the diversion anicut across the Heppola Oya was rebuilt.

In 1955, the government formally launched the Mapakada Wewa Colonization Scheme. Landless farming families from the central highlands and Uva Province were resettled in the area, with each family receiving irrigated paddy land and a highland allotment for a homestead.

The restored headworks brought approximately 526 hectares (1,300 acres) of agricultural land under systematic irrigation, enabling cultivation during both the Yala and Maha seasons.

References

Arumugam, S. (1969). Water resources of Ceylon: its utilisation and development. Water Resources Board (Sri Lanka).
Kamaladasa, B. (2026). Irrigation Heritage of Sri Lanka (1st ed.). The National Trust Sri Lanka.
Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka. (2017). හෙළ වාරි පුරාවත : ආරම්භයේ සිට වර්තමානය දක්වා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ වාරි සංස්කෘතිය පිලිබඳ විවරණයක්: Hela Wari Purawatha : Research Program on Sri Lanka’s History of Irregation from the Begining to Modern Times. Mahaweli Center, Sri Lanka.