Footage of Opened Spill Gates of Kalawewa, Shared As Senanayake Samudraya!

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A short video clip narrating the scenic beauty of Senanayake Samudraya in Inginiyagala went viral recently, especially among Tamil social media users. The video delves into the geography and history of Senanayake Samudraya.

However, upon closer examination, it became evident that the depicted scenes in the video did not correspond to the actual location of Senanayake Samudraya. Let’s look at the purported video first.

Social Media Post

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The video clips show the opened sluice gates of a massive lake, and the background narration of the video details the geographical location and elevation and many technical details about the Senanayake Samudraya. The video spoke about the spill gates of the Senanayake Samudraya being opened after 12 years. As a result, naturally, many users assumed the scenes were attributed to Senanayake Samudraya, which is the biggest reservoir and man-made lake in Sri Lanka.

Fact Check

We found that actually all the sluice gates of Senanayake Saumudraya were opened around two weeks ago, on January 10, 2024, due to substantial rainfall across the Eastern Province. Mohamed Riyas, Deputy Director, Disaster Management Centre, Ampara, stated that the sluice gates were opened as the capacity of the reservoir exceeded the limit to safeguard the Dam and the public of the district.

This noteworthy incident received extensive coverage as a headline in various media outlets. Numerous social media posts circulated to highlight and discuss the event of the sluice gates opening of Senanayake Samudraya after 12 years. Some mainstream media also reported this. Ceylon Today report can be read here. The year 2011 was the last time when all sluice gates of Senanayake Samudraya were opened. A report about it can be read here.

Footage from Kalawewa

But the Dam featured in this video is not the Senanayake Samudraya. It is Kalaweva (Kalawavi) from Anuradhapura district in Sri Lanka. We found out this using the Invid-We Verify tool.

Images from the Video (Kalawewa)

The below video, uploaded around one and half months before the viral video titled Kalawewa, shows the same scenery.

You can watch another video of Kalawewa here. This video, uploaded around two years ago, depicts the overflow of Kalawewa through its dams. The spill gate setup and the surroundings match that of the viral video, confirming the location as Kalawewa.

Furthermore, due to the continuous heavy rainfall, spill gates of Kalawewa Reservoir have also been opened several times in the recent past, and the people living downstream were warned to exercise caution and stay vigilant due to the increased water capacity released from Kalawewa. One such video can be seen here.

Senanayake Samudraya(Real Scenes)

Real scenes related to all the sluice gates of Senanayake Samudraya being opened gained widespread attention, and those footage can be viewed below.

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Conclusion

After looking closely at the viral video, it’s clear that the audio track of the video was misattributed. The information shared in the audio feed about Senanayake Samudraya is accurate. However, the scenes in the video actually belong to Kalawewa, not Senanayake Samudraya.