Waterfalls…!

Water in all its forms, icebergs, oceans, lakes, and rivers has a fascination of its own. But none can surpass the beauty of a waterfall.

Waterfalls are gifts of nature. Sri Lanka is fortunate enough to have such natural gifts. Sri Lanka is blessed with a lot of waterfalls.

In Sri Lanka there are about sixteen main waterfalls. Of these waterfalls Babarakanda is the highest waterfall. It is about 240 meters high. When you travel on the roads of the countryside you can see hundreds of small waterfalls.

Dunhida is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Sri Lanka. It is in the Badulla district.

Diyaluma, Rawana Ella, Bopath Ella are some other beautiful waterfalls. There are interesting stories about how these waterfalls got their names. Waterfalls are not just beautiful things to look at. Waterfalls have become very useful to us Sri Lankans.

Waterfalls attract thousands of tourists to our country. So waterfalls are a great contributor of earning foreign exchange.

Waterfalls have been used to produce electricity. Lakshapana hydro electricity project is such an electricity producing project.

Waterfalls can also heal the mental upsets of people. When you look at a waterfall, when you experience the beauty of it, when you feel the beauty of a waterfall, you get a big mental consolation.

However it is very sad that our people are not serious enough to protect this great gift of nature. People dirty the environment near the waterfalls by throwing empty bottles, polythene bags, plastic boxes etc here and there

Unscrupulous timber feelers cut the trees in catchment areas. When the forest near the waterfall is cut down, the waterfall will dry up.

So it’s high time that we take steps to protect the environment around waterfalls. For that the government should introduce severe laws against wrong doers.

Public awareness programers should be implemented. When the people understand the value of such natural gifts, they won’t destroy them. And It’s our responsibility that we pass these valuable natural gifts on to our future generations.