A development programme to utilise the waters of the Kalu Ganga to the optimum level for the benefit of people living around its banks is to be implemented shortly by the Government. Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka directed irrigation officials to draw up a plan to facilitate this and submit a report before the end of October this year. The Prime Minister issued this directive when the special Ministerial Committee on the development of the Kalu Ganga basin met at his office on July 14. The Prime Minister who chaired the meeting, said the proposed plan should try to make optimum use of Kalu Ganga waters for national development. It should lay special emphasis on preventing flooding in low lying areas in the Kalutara and Ratnapura districts. The Prime Minister said the plan should also envisage sustained long term development without resorting to temporary patch work. The Prime Minister said unlike in the past, the Government had placed full confidence in local engineers in planning development projects of this nature. This had enabled the country save a large amount of foreign exchange otherwise spent on foreign consultants and experts. The local engineers had already proved their calibre and efficiency by implementing large scale projects such as Weheragala and Deduru Oya, he said. The Kalu Ganga development project could help flood protection and increase electricity generation to help overcome a future electricity crisis. A communique issued by the Prime Minister's Office said the present flood problem had arisen due to the failure of past Governments to implement Kalu Ganga development plans drawn up in 1968 and 1989. Since the Ratnapura District received an annual rainfall of nearly 4,040 millimetres a large mass of water flowed down Kalu Ganga. The Kuda Oya converged on it below Ratnapura. Due to the large mass of water draining, the Kalu Ganga caused heavy floods in lowlying areas during rains due to its low gradient. The Government which thought of utilising these waters for development appointed a Ministerial Committee to draw up plans for it. Ministers Dinesh Gunawardene, Mahinda Samarasinghe, W.D.J. Seneviratne, Patali Champika Ranawake, and Rajitha Senaratne, Prime Minister's Secretary Mahinda Bandusena, Director of Irrigation H.P.S. Somasiri and Project Directors G.V. Ratnasena and D.M. Abhayaratna also participated in the meeting.