Anuradhapura is the largest district in the country with a population of around 893,000 across 717,900 hectares. There were nearly 3,000 major, medium and small-scale tanks and irrigation works in ancient Sri Lanka dating from the reign of King Pandukabhaya in 300 BC.The government has given priority to provide potable drinking water to the people. Around 1,500 tanks in the Anuradhapura district are in a state of dilapidation, filled with sediment. The tanks have been contracting due to sediment disposal and thus, water capacity is dwindling. The people in the district suffered from the acute shortage of both drinking and irrigational water during the last two years due to the prolonged drought.
