The Gal Oya is a long river, in South east
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 ...
. It is the 16th longest
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in Sri Lanka. It begins in the hills east of
Badulla
Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District.
Geography
Badulla is ...
and flows northeast, emptying into the Indian Ocean south of
Kalmunai
Kalmunai ( ta, கல்முனை, translit=Kalmuṉai; si, කල්මුනේ, translit=Kalmunē) is a major city in Ampara District. It is the largest city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. It had a total population of 106,780 as of 2011. I ...
.
The river was dammed in 1948 as part of the
Gal Oya scheme. The dam created the
Senanayake Samudra — the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka, at Bintenne. Resettlement of the
Tamils
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...
and
Sinhalese people
Sinhalese people ( si, සිංහල ජනතාව, Sinhala Janathāva) are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They were historically known as Hela people ( si, හෙළ). They constitute about 75% of t ...
displaced in this scheme gave rise to among the
first ethnic riots in Sri Lanka.
The Gal Oya project resulted in the formation of the 100,000 acre Gal Oya basin. This basin has since been used for cultivating paddy, chillies, sugarcane and potatoes. The
Gal Oya National Park
Gal Oya National Park in Sri Lanka was established in 1954 and serves as the main catchment area for Senanayake Samudraya, the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka. Senanayake Samudraya was built under the Gal Oya development project by damming the Ga ...
in the vicinity has a wide variety of wildlife including bears, leopards and elephants.
See also
*
List of rivers in Sri Lanka
The following table lists most rivers of Sri Lanka. Since Sri Lanka is a trilingual country, some rivers may have a Sinhala name (i.e. Kalu Ganga), while other have an English name (i.e. Kelani River). In the Sinhala language, Ganga (ගඟ) t ...
*
Gal Oya Dam
The Gal Oya Dam (also known as Inginiyagala Dam) is an embankment dam in the Uva Province of Sri Lanka. The dam creates one of the largest reservoirs in the country, the Gal Oya Reservoir. Water from the reservoir is used primarily for irrigation ...
*
Gal Oya National Park
Gal Oya National Park in Sri Lanka was established in 1954 and serves as the main catchment area for Senanayake Samudraya, the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka. Senanayake Samudraya was built under the Gal Oya development project by damming the Ga ...
*
Gal Oya riots
The 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom, also known as the Gal Oya riots, was the first organised pogrom against Sri Lankan Tamils in the Dominion of Ceylon. It began with anti-Tamil rioting in Colombo, followed by anti-Sinhalese rioting in Batticaloa. The wor ...
References
{{Authority control
*