Dutch company gets large contract for groundwater monitoring By Namini Wijedasa View(s): View(s):A Dutch company has secured a multimillion euro (Rs 4.4bn) pilot project to establish a ‘groundwater monitoring network’ for the Malwathu Oya, Maduru Oya and Kumbukkan Oya basins–three areas identified as being most susceptible to chronic kidney disease (CKD). The project will be funded through a loan from the Rabobank Netherlands backed by Atradius DSB, the Dutch export credit agency. Groundwater conditions vary considerably throughout Sri Lanka, a project committee report states. “Policymakers, aid agencies and NGOs must realise that unregulated and unmanaged groundwater development can have serious consequences.”Many of these situations could be controlled and minimised if effective groundwater monitoring and management systems were in place comprises regular collection, analysis and storage of data. The report states that natural disaster such as droughts, landslides, earth slips and many other natural disasters can be predicted by monitoring groundwater behaviour.

Source: Sunday Times May 12, 2018 18:56 UTC