water champion badra kamaladasa on nurturing irrigation in sri lanka

8/20/2019 Water Champion Badra Kamaladasa on Nurturing Irrigation in Sri Lanka

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Nurturing Irrigation in Sri Lanka

You started young in the irrigation sector. Whatchallenges have you faced as a woman in what isusually perceived as a male field? How did youaddress them?

When I started as a young engineer, my job then,serving in the national irrigation institute, involved alot of travelling, which took a considerable amountof my time away from my family, especially my threechildren.

I brought my children in my travels wheneverit was possible. I received a lot of support and

Water Champion

September

understanding from my fellow officers and co-workers, and they made it comfortable for me andthe kids. My children also understood how importantmy responsibilities at work were.

I was lucky enough to have a husband who issensitive to my career goals. I was also lucky tohave my husband’s family around when the childrenwere young. Often, they looked after my childrenwhenever I had to be away and could not take themwith me.

Badra Kamaladasa, former Director-General of Sri Lanka’s Irrigation Department, talks about her role as a womanand as a leader in Sri Lanka’s irrigation sector.

As the department’s first woman Director-General, Badra initiated institutional reforms, including theestablishment of regional centres to accelerate planning of new irrigation projects and rehabilitating existingschemes. She improved the management system, upgraded facilities and services, increased capacity of irrigationpersonnel, and established field offices to provide farmers easy access to irrigation services . She also launchedcollaborative programs and strengthened partnerships with other departments and agencies.

Badra also initiated the archiving of plans, drawings, and other important historical documents to preserve SriLanka’s century-old irrigation knowledge for reference of future generations.



Do you think Sri Lanka’s irrigation sector is awoman-friendly work environment?

Yes it is, but while equal oppor tunities are ensuredfor women in the irrigation sector, there are subtleissues that women face due to cultural barriers. WhenI was younger, senior professionals looked after me,sometimes even offering assistance in my professionalgrowth. However, this changed when I got older.

As senior off icers, women may face aggressiveness orintimidation from subordinates. When they do not likeyour decision, they would attribute it as a decision of awoman. The best thing to do is to respond rationally.

A woman needs to establish an image of herself as acapable senior professional by shouldering the sameresponsibilities as men. We need to show strength.Without asking for equal treatment, women need toask for equal responsibilities.

As former Director-General of Sri Lanka’s IrrigationDepartment, what accomplishments are you mostproud of?

We were able to complete two large reservoir projects(Deduru Oya reservoir and Rambaken Oya reservoir),which were delayed for many years. We improvedproductivity by adopting a new management systemand increased the capacity of our young engineersand technical personnel through trainings, particularlyon recent developments in the sector. We have alsostarted archiving valuable documents and plans forpreservation and future use.

Most satisfying for me is having the support ofthe many people inside and outside the IrrigationDepartment in pursuing our goals as an organization.

You have broken down barriers for women. Whatdo you think do women bring into the sector?

I think women’s participation will bring morecooperation among irrigation stakeholders.Women can play an important role in forging closercollaboration with the agriculture sector and variousinstitutions to improve sector productivity.

Today, there are more professional and technicallyqualified women leaders in the irrigation sector thanwhen I entered, while there is also a rapid increaseof women involved in active farming. Howeveropportunities for women as farmer leaders are stilllimited due to cultural and social barriers. I feel thatmore women in the professional and technical rankswill encourage more women to become farmerleaders too. There is certainly more room for women’sleadership.

Women leaders in both government and farmers’organizations can build a collectivist mind set

effectively. Women’s caring nature will improve thestatus of marginalized groups, including women andchildren.

“

”

A woman needs to establish an

image of herself as a capable senior

professional by shouldering the same

responsibilities as men. We need to

show strength. Without asking for equal

treatment, women need to ask for equal

responsibilities.



This article was written by Cezar Tigno, ADB Consultant. A slightly different version

was published on the ADB Water for All website.

The Water Champions series was developed to showcase individual leadership

and initiative in implementing water sector reforms and good practices inAsia and

the Pacic. The champions, representing ADB’s developing member countries,

are directly involved in improving the water situation in theirrespective countries or

communities. The series is regularly featured in ADB’s Water for All News, which

covers water sector developments in the Asia and Pacic region.

Visit our website:

www.adb.org/sectors/water/

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Is there something else you wish to accomplish?

Sri Lanka’s irrigation heritage goes back to the 5thcentury B.C. and the peculiar issues related with theirrigation of antiquity draws the interests of scholars.

I am planning to carry out research about my country’srich irrigation tradition and document the timelineof irrigation development works carried out in thecountry, particularly from a technical viewpoint.

What would you advise young women who arestarting out their careers in the irrigation sector?

Young women should realize the value of timemanagement early on as they may have to dividethe time between family and work, unlike their malecounterparts. Women also should understand that theyneed to summon up the courage to show that they canequal their male colleagues.

What more needs to be done for Sri Lanka’sirrigation? Do you foresee any challenges that thesector might face?

The Irrigation Department, being the main organizationresponsible for master planning of water resources inSri Lanka, needs stronger laws and policies to per formits role.

Investments needed in sustaining the alreadydeveloped irrigation infrastructure are crucial. Priority isgiven normally for new constructions over management

of existing system when investment decisions are made.This needs to be corrected.

After a short spell at the Urban DevelopmentAuthority, Badra joined the Irrigation Departmentin 1979. After serving 33 years in the IrrigationDepartment holding various posts she became theDirector General of Irrigation in June 2012. In this112 year old national technical department, she was

the first female to assume this post af ter 33 malepredecessors. She retired from government service inJanuary 2015.

Badra continues to provide direction and guidance tothe work of the Sri Lanka Water Partnership, a stalwartpartner of the Irrigation Department, focused towardprojects in the irrigation sector.

Badra is married, also to an engineer, and is themother of three boys.

About the Champion

Water Champion BadraKamaladasa is theformer Director-

General of Sri Lanka’sDepartment ofIrrigation and currently

the Chair of the SriLanka WaterPartnership.

Badra graduated asa civil engineer fromthe University ofMoratuwa in 1978.

She obtained her Master’s degree in DevelopmentTechnologies from University of Melbourne in 1994.Having obtained membership from the Institution ofEngineers Sri Lanka (IESL) in 1983 she became a fellowin 2010.

water champion badra kamaladasa on nurturing irrigation in sri lanka

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