Sri Lanka's Uma Oya launches forty years onThe Uma Oya project to bring water and electricity to 500,000 parched Sri Lankans was first planned as part of the 1968 Mahaweli project, which was abandoned due to lack of funds. Now, financed by EUR315 million from Iran and EUR98 million from internal government, two dams will be built with a 3.8 km-long link tunnel between the resulting reservoirs. At Dyraba, the water will enter a 15.2 km-long x 3.5 m-diameter pressure tunnel to a 120 MW underground power plant to be built near Rawana Ella, from where a 3.4 km-long outlet tunnel will exit on Alikota-ara. Surveys and geological investigations have been undertaken over the past 15 months, with a view to completing construction in 2014. Meantime, the Upper Kotmale Hydropower Project lk/15 is well underway, and progress to end-2008 is detailed at www.ukhp.lk/currentstatus.html. 37/09.