Post Evaluation of the Resettlement Process of Upper Kothmale Hydro Power project

Abstract

The Upper Kothmale Hydro-Power project (UKHP) is known as the third largest hydroelectric dam of Sri Lanka; situated in Talawakele in the Nuwaraeliya District. The construction work of the project was completed in 2011. The total 497 families were resettled as a result of the UKHP and there were huge resettlement issues. Resettlement is an important as well as a controversial process in any development project. Therefore, it is more important to find out the impacts of the resettlement of people in UKHP. This study mainly focused on the socio impacts of the resettlement process. The general objective of this study is to assess the socio impacts of resettlement process of UKHP. Specific objectives of this study are; to explore the issues after the resettlement process, to identify the satisfactory level of the affected people on infrastructure development as a part of the resettlement process which were created by the UKHP. This field study identified that there are pros and cons of the UKHP under resettlement process. When considering the favorable impacts, many jobs weren’t affected, education of the students of the affected families were no harm. Many people are satisfied on the new infrastructure facilities (power supply, water supply, transport, educational, health and recreational facilities) which were served by the project. Most of the affected people had received compensation. The more properties of the people were damaged but all of them had received new houses and land. Compensations weren’t satisfactory according to the public attitudes. However, it is important to note that when considering the whole resettlement process, it is more favorable when it compares with the resettlement process of the other development projects in Sri Lanka. Primary data were collected by field observation and surveying 90 households out of 497 households resettled by the project. Descriptive statistical methods; Graphs, charts, tables and percentages in SPSS were used to analyze and present the data.