Beira Lake (/bˈɐjɾɐ/;
Sinhalese
Sinhala may refer to:
* Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka
* Sinhalese people
* Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka
* Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language
** Sinha ...
: බේරේ වැව,
translit. ''Bērē væva'';
Tami
Tami or TAMI may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tami (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with either the given name or nickname
* Mark Tami (born 1962), British politician and Member of Parliament
* Pierluigi Tami ...
: பேரே ஏரி,
translit. ''Pērē ēri'') is a
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
in the centre of the city of
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The lake is surrounded by many large businesses in the city. It initially occupied approximately of land 100 years ago and this has since been reduced to today due to various reasons. During the colonial era of the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
,
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
the lake was used for a wide variety of purposes. It still retains its Portuguese name. It is connected to many intricate canals which provided an easy way of transporting goods within the city and suburban cities.
Etymology
The derivation of the name is uncertain, yet it was as recent as 1927 that 'Beira Lake' first appeared on maps. Before that, it was called the '
''Colombo Lake''
' or just '
''The Lake''
'.
One idea is that it got its name from a Portuguese Engineer called '
''Beira''
' who worked in constructing the lake
or from a Dutch Engineer called De Beer''
'.
The idea of ''De Beer'' is supported by a granite plaque which was recovered from the sluice of the lake, inscribed "''De Beer 1700''".
Other idea is that it got named from the word '
''Beira''
', which in Portuguese meant the '
''Bank'' or ''Edge of the Lake''
'.
Another idea is that it got from De Beer''
', which in Portuguese meant the '
''Anchoring Poin''t'.
It may have also been named after the Portuguese province of the same name.
History
The lake was built by the Portuguese to provide protection to Colombo from enemies, mainly
local kings.
By 1518 Portuguese ruled over Colombo, but the increasing threats against Portuguese rule by
King Vijayabahu VII and Sinhalese forces made them look for better solutions other than their modern weaponry. One of such early ideas was making a huge
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
around the fort.
The construction of the moat started by digging the marshy land which was around the fort in all directions other than west (west of the fort was the Indian Ocean). But these works were demotivated by the size of it and the small amount of water in the marsh which was not enough to fill a lake. But a stream which flowed between Mount of
Dematagoda
Dematagoda is in Colombo, Sri Lanka represented by divisional code 9 (Colombo 09). It is surrounded by Borella, Maradana and Kolonnawa
Kolonnawa ( si, කොලොන්නාව, ta, கொலன்னாவ) is a town located on the eas ...
and
Mount of St. Bastian was discovered by Portuguese
Captain Lopo de Brito, while he was chasing away another invasion lead by
King Vijayabahu VII. After informing the officials at the fort about this stream, it was connected to the moat they had dug, creating Beira Lake.
Then the lake was completely connected with the sea from both sides, separating the
Colombo Fort
Fort (Colombo) (; ) is the central business district of Colombo in Sri Lanka. It is the financial district of Colombo and the location of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the World Trade Centre of Colombo from which the CSE operates. It is ...
from the mainland. All means of transportation between the mainland and the fort was done using boats. The original area of the lake was .
Primary outflows then were the
Kayman Gates to the east and
St. John's Canal to the west. It was bordered from Mount of St. Bastian, Mount of
Wolfendal and from Mount of Kochchikade. To the north and west of the lake were the Portuguese forts.
The nature of the lake then has been described in ''
Conquista Temporale Espiritual de Ceylão'' (1687) by ''
Fr. Fernão de Queyroz'':
"The lake around the City of Colombo is having a complete length of 10 miles. It which had the Mount of Lawrence was surrounded by a lagoon. In some places at summer time it was deep only to the waist, and was a lake which gave access to City of Colombo"
In 1578,
Mayadunne of the
Kingdom of Sitawaka
The Kingdom of Sitawaka ( si, සීතාවක, ta, சீீீதாவாக்கை இராசதானி) was a kingdom located in south-central Sri Lanka. It emerged from the division of the Kingdom of Kotte following the Spoilin ...
attempted to cut off supplies to the invaders but failed to drain the lake. His son
Rajasingha I (a.k.a. Sithawaka Rajasinghe) succeeded in 1587 in draining the
crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
infested lake by cutting off several
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
s but failed to defeat the Portuguese as they brought reinforcements from
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
through sea.
After the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
laid siege and captured the lake it was expanded by reducing the fort by 1/3 of the previous and created several islands such as the
Slave Island
Slave Island ( si, කොම්පඤ්ඤ වීදිය, ta, கொம்பனித்தெரு) also known as Kampong Kertel and Kompanna Veediya is a suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka, located directly south of the Fort. The suburb contain ...
: some of them were large enough to have a village and a plantation of 600
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...
trees. After the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
took control they removed the crocodiles and developed the area surrounding the lake for recreational activities such as
rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...
and
yachting
Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, t ...
. The area around the lake was popular for parties including a
grand ball that was held to celebrate the news of British victory in
Waterloo. Ceylon's first botanical garden the Kew Gardens was opened in Slave Island in 1810 to cultivate seedlings provided by the
Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London to be planted in
Peradeniya Botanical Gardens
Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya are about 5.5 km to the west of the city of Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. In 2016, the garden was visited by 1.2 million locals and 400,000 foreign visitors. It is near the Mahaweli River (The ...
.
By the 19th century land reclamation for development began and the land area of the lake was reduced, pollution also began to increase.
Basins and Canals Connected
Four main basins can be identified in the lake:
The only canal the lake connected to is St. Bastian Canal from its northeast end. From the northwest, it outflows to the Indian Ocean via Mc. Callum Gates and via a semicircular spillway to the west (commonly known as "බේරේ බේසම"
translit. ''Bērē bēsama =''Beira Basin).
Greater Beira
Lined with many large warehouses, reminiscent of its past when tea used to be transported to the
port of Colombo
The Port of Colombo (known as Port of Kolomtota during the early 14th Century Kotte Kingdom) is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as an ...
on barges via the port access canal, the lake now is very quiet with many of the warehouses having been abandoned.
With maximum length of 1 mile, the lake has been home to
Colombo Rowing Club
The Colombo Rowing Club (commonly known as CRC) is the premier boat club in Sri Lanka having been founded in 1864. Its clubhouse and boat house are located on the edge of the northern Beira Lake, at Sir Chittapalam A. Gardiner Mawatha (formerly P ...
for over 140 years.
The
Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre is located on the waterfront, further the
People's Bank and the Inland Revenue Department headquarters are located in close to the lake.St. Joseph's college Colombo, the only school in Sri Lanka to have its very own Rowing pier is situated on the banks of the Beira lake. The
Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited
Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), also known as Lake House. It publishes three daily, three weekend, five weekly, two monthly and three annual publications in Sinhala, English and Tamil.
Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited i ...
is housed in the nearby "Lake House" building.
The lake with many government owned properties has been earmarked for development including a casino district on its McCullum road water front.
Flora and fauna
The lake is home to species of storks, pelicans, monitor lizards and various species of fish.
Pollution
The lake gets its famous green colour and unusually bad odour due to the result of pollution over hundreds of years and algae that is present in the water. The bad smell is mostly prominent during dry weather, due to the high rates evaporation and it fades off with the arrival of the rainy season.
Water Quality
Water of Beira Lake is polluted, from which it gets a bad odour and green colour. But contrary to the canal system of Colombo, the lake contains water with a very alkaline pH value got by primary production and continuous bloom. In August it gets its maximum value, but becomes more neutral from top to bottom, pH value decreasing from 10 to 8. The Lake water never gets an acidic pH.
Conductivity of the water retains fairly stable between 250 μS/cm and 300 μS/cm, with a slight increase from May to August.
Full temperature ranges between 29.3 and 35.4 °C. Average temperature is 31 °C and August is the warmest month. The temperature decreases rapidly 2 or 3 °C, from the surface to 60–100 cm in-depth and remains stable after that.
Dissolved Oxygen generally follows the same trend as temperature in August. Likewise the thermocline, an oxycline appears exclusively in August. Below 1 meter depth, DO is stable at 7 mg/L during May, June and July. Though it is decreased during August from 13 mg/L to 6 mg/L, shallow depth allows preserving a sufficient level of oxygen. But it would be more stressful during dry season.
Salinity is very stable (around 0.12 g/L) over time and along the water column.
Beira Lake Restoration
The Beira Lake plays a major role in the
Western Region Megapolis Project. Under the project the Beira lake is expected to be cleaned and developed with Singaporean assistance and private sector involvement. Waterways will be cleared by blocking illegal water outlets and sewerage lines into the lake and relocating settlements that dump waste to the lake in the area to
social housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
units.
Under the Megapolis plan after the restoration a
Shopping district
A shopping street or shopping district is a designated road or quarter of a city/town that is composed of individual retail establishments (such as stores, boutiques, restaurants, and shopping complexes). Such areas will typically be pedest ...
, an
Entertainment district
An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...
and a promenade will be created in the area around the Beira lake alongside many hotels and mixed development projects.
References
External links
Dutch Waterways in Sri Lanka
{{Colombo, state=collapsed
Geography of Colombo
Reservoirs in Sri Lanka
Bodies of water of Colombo District
Tourist attractions in Colombo
Lakes of Sri Lanka