Water leakages from existing pipelines have become a common sight in Kegalle Town. Whenever maintenance work is carried out to repair these leaks, the water supply has to be temporarily restricted, causing significant inconvenience to consumers in and around the town. In addition, leakages have created challenges during the implementation of road construction works undertaken by the Road Development Authority (RDA).

Despite repeated repairs, water leakages continue to occur due to the existing water pipeline network being laid in an unplanned and irregular manner. As a long-term solution to this issue, an awareness and coordination meeting on a new water pipeline installation project for Kegalle Town was held yesterday (17) at the Kegalle District Secretariat under the patronage of the Chairman of the Kegalle District Coordination Committee and Minister of Environment, Dr. Dhammika Patabendi, together with the Kegalle District Secretary, Mr. K.G.S. Nishantha.

In parallel with the ongoing road development project in Kegalle Town, the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) will implement the installation of new water pipelines along both sides of the Colombo–Kandy Road, from the beginning of Vidyalaya Mawatha up to St. Joseph's Girls' School, Kegalle.

The project is scheduled to commence shortly. The purpose of this discussion was to gather the views of all stakeholders involved in order to minimize the inconvenience that may be caused to the public and the business community during the implementation of the project.

Pipeline installation work has been planned to be carried out from 6.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m., thereby minimizing disruptions to the public. The project will be implemented in two phases and is expected to be completed within six months.

The meeting was attended by Kegalle District Member of Parliament Mrs. Sagarika Gangani Athauda, the Mayor of Kegalle, the Deputy General Manager of the Ratnapura Regional Office of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, other officials of the Board, Assistant Director of Planning Ms. Janani Madhurasinghe, representatives of the Road Development Authority, Kegalle Police, Sri Lanka Telecom, representatives of trade associations, three-wheeler associations, and several other stakeholders.