Water, war and renewal: The Iranamadu Reservoir' s new dawn with ADB

For generations, the water level of the Iranamadu Reservoir has been the true measure of northern Sri Lanka’s fortune. This ancient tank, a cornerstone of life in Kilinochchi, tells a story of heritage, conflict, and now, an extraordinary rebirth facilitated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

- By SANATH NANAYAKKARE

Once a casualty of a decades-long civil war, Iranamadu is today a powerful symbol of post-conflict renaissance, fueled by strategic investment and a revolutionary community-led model that is turning subsistence farmers into agribusiness owners.

The conflict from 1983 to 2009 shattered the region's infrastructure. Iranamadu, the largest reservoir in the Northern Province and the lifeline for 40% of Kilinochchi's population, was severely wounded. Even before the war peaked, its decay had begun. A major slip in its downstream embankment in 1983 forced authorities to curtail its storage capacity to just 70%, crippling the livelihoods of thousands of farm families who depended on it to irrigate over 20,000 acres of paddy and upland crops.