VI.DIVISION OF THE WORLD AMONG THE GREAT POWERS

 

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism

A POPULAR OUTLINE

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VI. DIVISION OF THE WORLD AMONG THE GREAT POWERS

In his book, on “the territorial development of the European colonies,” A. Supan, ^[1] the geographer, gives the following brief summary of this development at the end of the nineteenth century:

PERCENTAGE OF TERRITORY BELONGING TO THE EUROPEAN COLONIAL POWERS (Including the United States)
	1876	1900	Increase or decrease
Africa..........	10.8	90.4	+79.6
Polynesia....	56.8	98.9	+42.1
Asia............	51.5	56.6	+5.1
Australia.....	100.0	100.0	—
America......	27.5	27.2	-0.3

“The characteristic feature of this period,” he concludes, “is, therefore, the division of Africa and Polynesia.” As there are no unoccupied territories—that is, territories that do not belong to any state in Asia and America, it is necessary to amplify Supan’s conclusion and say that the characteristic feature of the period under review is the final partitioning of the globe—final, not in the sense that repartition is impossible; on the contrary, repartitions are possible and inevitable—but in the sense that the colonial policy of the capitalist countries has completed the seizure of the unoccupied territories on our planet. For the first time the world is completely divided up, so that in the future only redivision is possible, i.e., territories can only pass from one “owner” to another, instead of passing as ownerless territory to an owner

Hence, we are living in a peculiar epoch of world colonial policy, which is most closely connected with the “latest stage in the development of capitalism,” with finance capital. For this reason, it is essential first of all to deal in greater detail with the facts, in order to ascertain as exactly as possible what distinguishes this epoch from those preceding it, and what the present situation is. In the first place, two questions of fact arise here: is an intensification of colonial policy, a sharpening of the struggle for colonies, observed precisely in the epoch of finance capital? And how, in this respect, is the world divided at the present time?

The American writer, Morris, in his book on the history of colonisation,^[2] made an attempt to sum up the data on the colonial possessions of Great Britain, France and Germany during different periods of the nineteenth century. The following is a brief summary of the results he has obtained:

COLONIAL POSSESSIONS
Year	Great Britain		France		Germany
	Area (000,000 sq. m.)	Pop. (000,000)	Area (000,000 sq. m.)	Pop. (000,000)	Area (000,000 sq. m.)	Pop. (000,000)
1815-30	?	126.4	0.02	0.5	—	—
1860	2.5	145.1	0.2	3.4	—	—
1880	7.7	267.9	0.7	7.5	—	—
1899	9.3	309.0	3.7	56.4	1.0	14.7

For Great Britain, the period of the enormous expansion of colonial conquests was that between 1860 and 1880, and it was also very considerable in the last twenty years of the nineteenth century. For France and Germany this period falls precisely in these twenty years. We saw above that the development of premonopoly capitalism, of capitalism in which free competition was predominant, reached its limit in the 1860s and 1870s. We now see that it is precisely after that period that the tremendous “boom” in colonial conquests begins, and that the struggle for the territorial division of the world becomes extraordinarily sharp. It is beyond doubt, therefore, that capitalism’s transition to the stage of monopoly capitalism, to finance capital, is connected with the intensification of the struggle for the partitioning of the world.

Hobson, in his work on imperialism, marks the years 1884-1900 as the epoch of intensified “expansion” of the chief European states. According to his estimate, Great Britain during these years acquired 3,700,000 square miles of territory with 57,000,000 inhabitants; France, 3,600,000 square miles with 36,500,000; Germany, 1,000,000 square miles with 14,700,000; Belgium, 900,000 square miles with 30,000,000; Portugal, 800,000 square miles with 9,000,000 inhabitants. The scramble for colonies by all the capitalist states at the end of the nineteenth century and particularly since the 1880s is a commonly known fact in the history of diplomacy and of foreign policy.

In the most flourishing period of free competition in Great Britain, i.e., between 1840 and 1860, the leading British bourgeois politicians were opposed to colonial policy and were of the opinion that the liberation of the colonies, their complete separation from Britain, was inevitable and desirable. M. Beer, in an article, “Modern British Imperialism,” ^[3] published in 1898, shows that in 1852, Disraeli, a statesman who was generally inclined towards imperialism, declared: “The colonies are millstones round our necks.” But at the end of the nineteenth century the British heroes of the hour were Cecil Rhodes and Joseph Chamberlain, who openly advocated imperialism and applied the imperialist policy in the most cynical manner!

It is not without interest to observe that even then these leading British bourgeois politicians saw the connection between what might be called the purely economic and the socio-political roots of modern imperialism. Chamberlain advocated imperialism as a “true, wise and economical policy,” and pointed particularly to the German, American and Belgian competition which Great Britain was encountering in the world market. Salvation lies in monopoly, said the capitalists as they formed cartels, syndicates and trusts. Salvation lies in monopoly, echoed the political leaders of the bourgeoisie, hastening to appropriate the parts of the world not yet shared out. And Cecil Rhodes, we are informed by his intimate friend, the journalist Stead, expressed his imperialist views to him in 1895 in the following terms: “I was in the East End of London (a working-class quarter) yesterday and attended a meeting of the unemployed. I listened to the wild speeches, which were just a cry for ‘bread! bread!’ and on my way home I pondered over the scene and I became more than ever convinced of the importance of imperialism.... My cherished idea is a solution for the social problem, i.e., in order to save the 40,000,000 inhabitants of the United Kingdom from a bloody civil war, we colonial statesmen must acquire new lands to settle the surplus population, to provide new markets for the goods produced in the factories and mines. The Empire, as I have always said, is a bread and butter question. If you want to avoid civil war, you must become imperialists.^[4]

That was said in 1895 by Cecil Rhodes, millionaire, a king of finance, the man who was mainly responsible for the Anglo-Boer War. True, his defence of imperialism is crude and cynical, but in substance it does not differ from the “theory” advocated by Messrs. Maslov, Südekum, Potresov, David, the founder of Russian Marxism and others. Cecil Rhodes was a somewhat more honest social-chauvinist....

To present as precise a picture as possible of the territorial division of the world and of the changes which have occurred during the last decades in this respect, I shall utilise the data furnished by Supan in the work already quoted on the colonial possessions of all the powers of the world. Supan takes the years 1876 and 1900; I shall take the year 1876—a year very aptly selected, for it is precisely by that time that the pre-monopolist stage of development of West-European capitalism can be said to have been, in the main, completed—and the year 1914, and instead of Supan’s figures I shall quote the more recent statistics of Hübner’s Geographical and Statistical Tables. Supan gives figures only for colonies; I think it useful, in order to present a complete picture of the division of the world, to add brief data on non-colonial and semi-colonial countries, in which category I place Persia, China and Turkey: the first of these countries is already almost completely a colony, the second and third are becoming such.

We thus get the following result:

COLONIAL POSSESSIONS OF THE GREAT POWERS (000,000 square kilometers and 000,000 inhabitants)
	Colonies				Metropolitan countries		Total
	1876		1914		1914		1914
	Area	Pop.	Area	Pop.	Area	Pop.	Area	Pop.
Great Britain	22.5	251.9	33.5	393.5	0.3	46.5	33.8	444.0
Russia	17.0	15.9	17.4	33.2	5.4	136.2	22.8	169.4
France	0.9	6.0	10.6	55.5	0.5	39.6	11.1	95.1
Germany	—	—	2.9	12.3	0.5	64.9	3.4	77.2
United States	—	—	0.3	9.7	9.4	97.0	9.7	106.7
Japan	—	—	0.3	19.2	0.4	53.0	0.7	72.2
Total for 6 Great Powers	40.4	273.8	65.0	523.4	16.5	437.2	81.5	960.6

Colonies of other powers (Belgium, Holland, etc.)	9.9	45.3
Semi-colonial countries (Persia, China, Turkey)	14.5	361.2
Other countries	28.0	289.9
Total for the world	133.9	1,657.0

We clearly see from these figures how “complete” was the partition of the world at the turn of the twentieth century. After 1876 colonial possessions increased to enormous dimensions, by more than fifty per cent, from 40,000,000 to 65,000,000 square kilometres for the six biggest powers; the increase amounts to 25,000,000 square kilometres, fifty per cent more than the area of the metropolitan countries (16,500,000 square kilometres). In 1876 three powers had no colonies, and a fourth, France, had scarcely any. By 1914 these four powers had acquired colonies with an area of 14,100,000 square kilometres, i.e., about half as much again as the area of Europe, with a population of nearly 100,000,000. The unevenness in the rate of expansion of colonial possessions is very great. If, for instance, we compare France, Germany and Japan, which do not differ very much in area and population, we see that the first has acquired almost three times as much colonial territory as the other two combined. In regard to finance capital, France, at the beginning of the period we are considering, was also, perhaps, several times richer than Germany and Japan put together. In addition to, and on the basis of, purely economic conditions, geographical and other conditions also affect the dimensions of colonial possessions. However strong the process of levelling the world, of levelling the economic and living conditions in different countries, may have been in the past decades as a result of the pressure of large-scale industry, exchange and finance capital, considerable differences still remain; and among the six countries mentioned we see, firstly, young capitalist countries (America, Germany, Japan) whose progress has been extraordinarily rapid; secondly, countries with an old capitalist development (France and Great Britain), whose progress lately has been much slower than that of the previously mentioned countries, and thirdly, a country most backward economically (Russia), where modern capitalist imperialism is enmeshed, so to speak, in a particularly close network of pre-capitalist relations.

Alongside the colonial possessions of the Great Powers, we have placed the small colonies of the small states, which are, so to speak, the next objects of a possible and probable “redivision” of colonies. These small states mostly retain their colonies only because the big powers are torn by conflicting interests, friction, etc., which prevent them from coming to an agreement on the division of the spoils. As to the “semi-colonial” states, they provide an example of the transitional forms which are to be found in all spheres of nature and society. Finance capital is such a great, such a decisive, you might say, force in all economic and in all international relations, that it is capable of subjecting, and actually does subject, to itself even states enjoying the fullest political independence; we shall shortly see examples of this. Of course, finance capital finds most “convenient,” and derives the greatest profit from, a form of subjection which involves the loss of the political independence of the subjected countries and peoples. In this respect, the semi-colonial countries provide a typical example of the “middle stage.” It is natural that the struggle for these semidependent countries should have become particularly bitter in the epoch of finance capital, when the rest of the world has already been divided up.

Colonial policy and imperialism existed before the latest stage of capitalism, and even before capitalism. Rome, founded on slavery, pursued a colonial policy and practised imperialism. But “general” disquisitions on imperialism, which ignore, or put into the background, the fundamental difference between socio-economic formations, inevitably turn into the most vapid banality or bragging, like the comparison: “Greater Rome and Greater Britain.” ^[5] Even the capitalist colonial policy of previous stages of capitalism is essentially different from the colonial policy of finance capital.

The principal feature of the latest stage of capitalism is the domination of monopolist associations of big employers. These monopolies are most firmly established when all the sources of raw materials are captured by one group, and we have seen with what zeal the international capitalist associations exert every effort to deprive their rivals of all opportunity of competing, to buy up, for example, ironfields, oilfields, etc. Colonial possession alone gives the monopolies complete guarantee against all contingencies in the struggle against competitors, including the case of the adversary wanting to be protected by a law establishing a state monopoly. The more capitalism is developed, the more strongly the shortage of raw materials is felt, the more intense the competition and the hunt for sources of raw materials throughout the whole world, the more desperate the struggle for the acquisition of colonies.

“It may be asserted,” writes Schilder, “although it may sound paradoxical to some, that in the more or less foreseeable future the growth of the urban and industrial population is more likely to be hindered by a shortage of raw materials for industry than by a shortage of food.” For example, there is a growing shortage of timber—the price of which is steadily rising—of leather, and of raw materials for the textile industry. “Associations of manufacturers are making efforts to create an equilibrium between agriculture and industry in the whole of world economy; as an example of this we might mention the International Federation of Cotton Spinners’ Associations in several of the most important industrial countries, founded in 1904, and the European Federation of Flax Spinners’ Associations, founded on the same model in 1910.” ^[6]

Of course, the bourgeois reformists, and among them particularly the present-day adherents of Kautsky, try to belittle the importance of facts of this kind by arguing that raw materials “could be” obtained in the open market without a “costly and dangerous” colonial policy; and that the supply of raw materials “could be” increased enormously by “simply” improving conditions in agriculture in general. But such arguments become an apology for imperialism, an attempt to paint it in bright colours, because they ignore the principal feature of the latest stage of capitalism: monopolies. The free market is becoming more and more a thing of the past; monopolist syndicates and trusts are restricting it with every passing day, and “simply” improving conditions in agriculture means improving the conditions of the masses, raising wages and reducing profits. Where, except in the imagination of sentimental reformists, are there any trusts capable of concerning themselves with the condition of the masses instead of the conquest of colonies?

Finance capital is interested not only in the already discovered sources of raw materials but also in potential sources, because present-day technical development is extremely rapid, and land which is useless today may be improved tomorrow if new methods are devised (to this end a big bank can equip a special expedition of engineers, agricultural experts, etc.), and if large amounts of capital are invested. This also applies to prospecting for minerals, to new methods of processing up and utilising raw materials, etc., etc. Hence, the inevitable striving of finance capital to enlarge its spheres of influence and even its actual territory. In the same way that the trusts capitalise their property at two or three times its value, taking into account its “potential” (and not actual) profits and the further results of monopoly, so finance capital in general strives to seize the largest possible amount of land of all kinds in all places, and by every means, taking into account potential sources of raw materials and fearing to be left behind in the fierce struggle for the last remnants of independent territory, or for the repartition of those territories that have been already divided.

The British capitalists are exerting every effort to develop cotton growing in their colony, Egypt (in 1904, out of 2,300,000 hectares of land under cultivation, 600,000, or more than one-fourth, were under cotton); the Russians are doing the same in their colony, Turkestan, because in this way they will be in a better position to defeat their foreign competitors, to monopolise the sources of raw materials and form a more economical and profitable textile trust in which all the processes of cotton production and manufacturing will be “combined” and concentrated in the hands of one set of owners.

The interests pursued in exporting capital also give an impetus to the conquest of colonies, for in the colonial market it is easier to employ monopoly methods (and sometimes they are the only methods that can be employed) to eliminate competition, to ensure supplies, to secure the necessary “connections,” etc.

The non-economic superstructure which grows up on the basis of finance capital, its politics and its ideology, stimulates the striving for colonial conquest. “Finance capital does not want liberty, it wants domination,” as Hilferding very truly says. And a French bourgeois writer, developing and supplementing, as it were, the ideas of Cecil Rhodes quoted above,^[7] writes that social causes should be added to the economic causes of modern colonial policy: “Owing to the growing complexities of life and the difficulties which weigh not only on the masses of the workers, but also on the middle classes, ‘impatience, irritation and hatred are accumulating in all the countries of the old civilisation and are becoming a menace to public order; the energy which is being hurled out of the definite class channel must be given employment abroad in order to avert an explosion at home’.” ^[8]

Since we are speaking of colonial policy in the epoch of capitalist imperialism, it must be observed that finance capital and its foreign policy, which is the struggle of the great powers for the economic and political division of the world, give rise to a number of transitional forms of state dependence. Not only are the two main groups of countries, those owning colonies, and the colonies themselves, but also the diverse forms of dependent countries which, politically, are formally independent, but in fact, are enmeshed in the net of financial and diplomatic dependence, typical of this epoch. We have already referred to one form of dependence—the semi-colony. An example of another is provided by Argentina.

“South America, and especially Argentina,” writes Schulze-Gaevernitz in his work on British imperialism, “is so dependent financially on London that it ought to be described as almost a British commercial colony.” ^[9] Basing himself on the reports of the Austro-Hungarian Consul at Buenos Aires for 1909, Schilder estimated the amount of British capital invested in Argentina at 8,750 million francs. It is not difficult to imagine what strong connections British finance capital (and its faithful “friend”, diplomacy) thereby acquires with the Argentine bourgeoisie, with the circles that control the whole of that country’s economic and political life.

A somewhat different form of financial and diplomatic dependence, accompanied by political independence, is presented by Portugal. Portugal is an independent sovereign state, but actually, for more than two hundred years, since the war of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), it has been a British protectorate. Great Britain has protected Portugal and her colonies in order to fortify her own positions in the fight against her rivals, Spain and France. In return Great Britain has received commercial privileges, preferential conditions for importing goods and especially capital into Portugal and the Portuguese colonies, the right to use the ports and islands of Portugal, her telegraph cables, etc., etc. ^[10] Relations of this kind have always existed between big and little states, but in the epoch of capitalist imperialism they become a general system, they form part of the sum total of “divide the world” relations and become links in the chain of operations of world finance capital.

In order to finish with the question of the division of the world, I must make the following additional observation. This question was raised quite openly and definitely not only in American literature after the Spanish-American War, and in English literature after the Anglo-Boer War, at the very end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth; not only has German literature, which has “most jealously” watched “British imperialism,” systematically given its appraisal of this fact. This question has also been raised in French bourgeois literature as definitely and broadly as is thinkable from the bourgeois point of view. Let me quote Driault, the historian, who, in his book, Political and Social Problems at the End of the Nineteenth Century, in the chapter “The Great Powers and the Division of the World,” wrote the following: “During the past few years, all the free territory of the globe, with the exception of China, has been occupied by the powers of Europe and North America. This has already brought about several conflicts and shifts of spheres of influence, and these foreshadow more terrible upheavals in the near future. For it is necessary to make haste. The nations which have not yet made provision for themselves run the risk of never receiving their share and never participating in the tremendous exploitation of the globe which will be one of the most essential features of the next century (i.e., the twentieth). That is why all Europe and America have lately been afflicted with the fever of colonial expansion, of ‘imperialism’, that most noteworthy feature of the end of the nineteenth century.” And the author added: “In this partition of the world, in this furious hunt for the treasures and the big markets of the globe, the relative strength of the empires founded in this nineteenth century is totally out of proportion to the place occupied in Europe by the nations which founded them. The dominant powers in Europe, the arbiters of her destiny, are not equally preponderant in the whole world. And, as colonial might, the hope of controlling as yet unassessed wealth, will evidently react upon the relative strength of the European powers, the colonial question—“imperialism,” if you will—which has already modified the political conditions of Europe itself, will modify them more and more.” ^[11]

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Notes

^[1] A. Supan, Die territoriale Entwicklung der europäischen Kolonien, 1906, S. 254. —Lenin

^[2] Henry C. Morris, The History of Colonisation, New York, 1900, Vol. II, p. 88; Vol. 1, p. 419; Vol. 11, p. 304. —Lenin

^[3] Die Neue Zeit, XVI, 1, 1898, S. 302. —Lenin

^[4] Ibid., S. 304. —Lenin

^[5] C. P. Lucas, Greater Rome and Greater Britain, Oxford, 1912, or the Earl of Cromer’s Ancient and Modern Imperialism, London, 1910. —Lenin

^[6] Schilder, op. cit., S. 38-42. —Lenin

^[7] See pp. 256–57 of this volume.—Ed.

^[8] Wahl, La France aux colonies quoted by Henri Russier, Le Partage de l’Océanie, Paris, 1905, p. 165. —Lenin

^[9] Schulze-Gaevernitz, Britischer Imperialismus und englischer Freihandel zu Beginn des 20-ten Jahrhunderts, Leipzig, 1906, S. 318. Sartorius v. Waltershausen says the same in Das volkswirtschaftliche System der Kapitalanlage im Auslande, Berlin, 1907, S. 46. —Lenin

^[10] Schilder, op. cit., Vol. I, S. 160-61. —Lenin

^[11] J. E. Driault, Problèmes politiques et sociaux, Paris, 1900, p. 299. —Lenin

அஸ்ரஃப் எனும் இலக்கியம்- நூல் வெளியீடு

இன்று 13-04-2026 அன்று, முன்கூட்டியே அறிவித்தபடி மருதமுனைக் கலாச்சார மண்டபத்தில் மாலை 4.00 மணியளவில் விழா ஆரம்பமானது.

வாழ் நாள் ஊடக சாதனையாளர் கலாபூஸணம் மர்ஹூம் ஏ.எல்.எம்.சலீம் அரங்கில் இக் கூட்டம் நடைபெற்றது.

அழைப்பிதழில் குறிப்பிட்ட அதிதிகள் கலந்து கொண்டு நூல் குறித்து உரையாற்றினர்.

`அஸ்ரஃப் எனும் இலக்கியம்` நூல் விற்பனைக்கு வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது.

கூட்டத்தில் கலந்து கொண்ட மக்கள் நூலை விலை கொடுத்து வாங்கிக் கொண்டனர்.

பெண்கள் குழந்தைகள் உட்பட மண்டபம் நிறைய மக்கள் கூடியிருந்தனர்.

உரைகளுக்குச் செவிமடுத்து, நூல்களைப் பெற்றுக் கொண்டு பரஸ்பரம் அளவளாவி கூட்டம் இனிதே நிறைவேறியது.

US Economy-WSJ

 

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Cabinet paper on Malaiyaha Community soon

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The Morning 03 Apr 2026 | BY Dhanushka Dharmapriya

• Focus on relief and infrastructure facilities 
• TPA briefs Prez on qualified teachers recruitment

Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya has informed that a Cabinet paper is to be submitted in the near future on relief measures and infrastructure facilities for the Malaiyaha people, the Civil Society Collective for Malaiyaha Reconstruction claimed.

A special meeting between the Prime Minister and representatives of island-wide civil society organisations (CSOs) working with people affected by Cyclone Ditwah was held on 28 March at Temple Trees. During the meeting, several matters, including ongoing reconstruction efforts and alternative measures for those affected by Ditwah, were discussed in detail. The Collective presented the key issues affecting the Malaiyaha people, which included housing and land rights, transitional shelters and basic facilities in camps, livelihoods, infrastructure, as well as alleged irregularities and discrimination in the provision of relief. 

The Collective also highlighted the lack of implementation of the Tamil language in administrative processes, reiterated their rejection of multi-storey housing schemes, and stressed that affected Malaiyaha families must be provided with housing and land valued at no less than Rs. five million. Representatives of the CSOs further emphasised that multi-storey housing is unsuitable for the Malaiyaha region due to its unique geographical and social context.

These demands were presented to the Prime Minister, the Commissioner General of Essential Services, Prabath Chandrakeerthi, and the Secretaries of the relevant Ministries. Chandrakeerthi further stated that, in line with provisions extended to other affected populations, those impacted by Ditwah in plantation areas would also be provided with housing and land valued at no less than Rs. five million.

A group of Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) members, including its Leader and Opposition Parliamentarian Mano Ganesan, met President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (2) at the Presidential Secretariat. Extensive discussions were held on the issues faced by the Malaiyaha community, particularly in relation to education, housing, and land, as well as on the urgent measures required to address these longstanding concerns. The President paid special attention to these matters during the meeting. 

Attention was also drawn to the recruitment of qualified Tamil-medium teachers to address the prevailing teacher shortage in estate sector schools, and this issue too was discussed at length. Opposition Parliamentarians P. Digambaram and V. Radhakrishnan, along with several other party members, were also present at the meeting.

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14 November 2025 Daily Mirror

Despite much concerns regarding the drinking water available the Peradeniya Water Supply and Drainage Board has guaranteed that Nuwara Eliya’s drinking water doesn’t contain heavy metals or E. coli. The picture shows the picturesque Lake Gregory

There were plans during the previous regime to construct a tank on a 15-acre plot of land below the Lover’s Leap waterfall to supply drinking water to Nuwara Eliya. However, the project was halted for political reasons

“The Peradeniya Water Supply and Drainage Board has guaranteed that Nuwara Eliya’s drinking water does not contain heavy metals or E. coli. The Water Supply Board conducts monthly water tests and daily chlorination. If the mayor has stated that the drinking water contains E. coli and heavy metals, you should ask him about it”

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By Prageeth Sampath Karunathilaka and Sudharika Gurusinghe 

Nuwara Eliya holds a special place as a tourist destination. Two of the main attractions are the extremely cold climate and the picturesque Gregory Lake. Both local and foreign visitors flock to this town during the festive season to absorb the atmosphere. Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council is primarily responsible for ensuring the town’s safety and ensuring that the food, drinking water, and accommodation of tourists meet the required standards.

Around 8,000 families reside within the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council area, with tourism being their main source of income. Much of the tourist activity occurs during December, January, and the Sinhala New Year, while during other seasons the town sees a surge of visitors only during long weekends. Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council demonstrates unwavering commitment to the comfort and services provided to those visiting the city.

However, there is an issue behind this commitment. The authorities here are not giving sufficient attention to problems that have crop up related to water in Nuwara Eliya. Despite the city’s cold climate and the presence of water sources, they are not sufficient to meet the basic water needs of the population.

Situated at a high altitude (approximately 1,868 metres), Nuwara Eliya has an average annual temperature of 16 degrees Celsius. During the winter months (January to March), nights can become extremely cold, and on some mornings, flowers with frost on them are visible. On such days, the minimum temperature can drop below 4 degrees Celsius. During this time, when the sun is directly overhead, temperatures rise, and it can feel extremely warm, with readings sometimes exceeding 26 degrees Celsius. The first inter-monsoon period occurs in March and April, followed by the southwest monsoon from May to September. During these months, rain often falls day and night, accompanied by strong south-westerly winds, and wet weather can persist for extended periods.

The city usually experiences around 5–6 days of sunlight per month. The second inter-monsoon occurs during October and November, while the northeast monsoon is active from December to February. Rainfall during these periods is typically higher than in other seasons. Under such climatic conditions, a two-week period without rain can cause a drinking water shortage in the city. This is because the area falling within the parametres of the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council cannot meet the daily demand of 5,000 cubic metres of water.

To address this problem, a project to construct nine tube wells was initiated with assistance from JICA. The existing water sources were insufficient not only for drinking purposes, but also for agriculture. As a result, a tube well project began around 2018. 

According to Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council reports prepared for 2018, as a result of constructing these tube wells, the water in toilets of nearby houses had dried up. This happened because the wells used the same water source. These 2018 test reports confirmed that Nuwara Eliya’s drinking water contained E. coli (mixed with fecal matter). An official from Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council also informed with this newspaper that there is no guarantee that these tube wells were constructed according to proper standards or quality certifications. A senior official from the company involved in the construction of the tube wells, confirmed that the tube well water is more brackish (slightly salty, as in river estuaries).  Furthermore, the official stated that the tube well water contains faecal matter and heavy metals.

The senior officer of Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council also confirmed that, to date, no organization has issued a recognised quality certificate for drinking water in the area. Currently, the drinking water provided to the residents of Nuwara Eliya is tested by the Peradeniya Water Supply and Drainage Board once a month, and water is supplied accordingly. In addition to tube well water, the drinking water needs of some areas of the Nuwara Eliya Municipality are met by water obtained from Lover’s Leap falls. This water is generally safe. However, the senior officer confirmed that the water supplied from the tube wells contains faecal matter and heavy metals.

Hotel operators look for alternatives 

Because the water in the area is contaminated with fecal matter and heavy metals, many hotel operators have sought an alternative, which is digging wells on their premises for the purposes of obtaining water. The most serious concern is that these wells are often located very close to toilet pits. Investigations done by this newspaper revealed that in many instances, there is less than a 50-foot distance between the toilet pits and the wells. It was also reported that the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council does not conduct inspections of these sites. The senior officer confirmed that the water supplied to both tourists and residents—whether through tube wells or hotel wells—contains heavy metals and faecal matter.

The presence of heavy metals in Nuwara Eliya’s water sources is largely due to the use of pesticides in agriculture. Such details for mentioned in the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council reports prepared for 2018. As a result of using pesticides for cultivation without proper assessment and in an uncontrolled manner, heavy metals have entered the water sources. The chemicals have mixed with the water. As a result, residents of Nuwara Eliya are currently facing an acute water crisis. Despite knowing that this water contains heavy metals and faecal matter, no authorities have taken steps to address the situation. The senior officer said that they are aware of the crisis, yet they have let people continue to consume water contaminated with faecal matter.

Some form of a solution to Nuwara Eliya’s drinking water problem was proposed in 2003 through the Lover’s Leap drinking water scheme, initiated by former Mayor Mahinda Dodampe Gamage. In 1994, the CISIR had confirmed that the water from this waterfall is of high quality, and it has also received certification from the World Health Organization. Had this project been implemented, both tourists and residents could have accessed clean, high-quality water free from heavy metals and fecal matter. Former Mayor Gamage had planned to construct a tank on a 15-acre plot of land below the Lover’s Leap waterfall to supply drinking water to Nuwara Eliya. In 2012, an inspection of this water source was conducted, and in 2016, the Irrigation Department carried out a preliminary feasibility study. However, the project was halted for political reasons, leaving residents to continue using water contaminated with heavy metals and faecal matter. 

Another project to supply water from Ambewela was also launched, but discontinued midway. Recently, it was decided at the Nuwara Eliya District Coordinating Committee meeting to hand over control of the Municipal Council’s water sources to the Water Supply and Drainage Board to find a solution to the water problem. 

 Currently, the unit price for water supplied to the people of Nuwara Eliya ranges between three and five rupees. After the water supply is handed over to the Water Supply and Drainage Board, the unit price will range between 60 and 65 rupees. This represents an increase of around 1,500 to 1,600 percent on water bills. For people who previously struggled to pay bills of three to five rupees per unit, this will be an additional burden. 

Commenting on the situation, Susantha Palihavadana, a UNP member of Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council, noted that a water testing laboratory established under the United Nations Fund operates within the Municipal Council premises. This laboratory conducts daily water testing, and E. coli and heavy metal levels are controlled by adding chlorine and other necessary chemicals. He assured that only clean water from Lover’s Leap Falls is supplied for consumption, and water, contaminated with faecal matter, is never provided for usage. 

“In 2018, tests confirmed that the drinking water contained E. coli, but that issue has since been resolved. The tube well project, implemented with support from JICA, has also been highly successful, and no reports have indicated any problems with the wells. While water in Nuwara Eliya does contain heavy metals, it can be purified through chlorination. We have not received any information about wells and toilets located close to each other in hotels, and currently, there are no reported issues with the drinking water supplied in Nuwara Eliya,” he added.

When inquired, Kithsiri Herath, Public Health Inspector of Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council, stated that the Municipal Council Water Supply Officer, Ajith, was nearby and could be consulted for any questions. He said the following: “The Peradeniya Water Supply and Drainage Board has guaranteed that Nuwara Eliya’s drinking water does not contain heavy metals or E. coli. The Water Supply Board conducts monthly water tests and daily chlorination. If the mayor has stated that the drinking water contains E. coli and heavy metals, you should ask him about it. Anyone can make claims, but there is no problem with Nuwara Eliya’s water. Nuwara Eliya General Hospital receives water from us. The hospital also has to pay us a substantial outstanding bill. How can you claim that E. coli is present in tube well water”. He ended the call when asked to explain how chlorine eliminates E. coli and heavy metals. 

When this scribe raised the question again with the Public Health Inspector, he said he was unable to provide an answer and advised this newspaper to contact the Mayor. 

When asked whether water containing heavy metals and fecal matter would continue to be allowed for public consumption, and whether there is an alternative solution, Nuwara Eliya Municipal Council Mayor Upali Wanigasekara stated: “We cannot guarantee that the drinking water in Nuwara Eliya is completely clean. A project to address this issue is currently underway, but it has not been effective so far. We have established a water testing laboratory with Korean aid, where anyone can come and obtain a certificate for the water they use. I have been in office for four months. It is said that Nuwara Eliya’s drinking water contains heavy metals. Even I use spring water. Until now, the water in Nuwara Eliya was treated in the traditional way, using only chlorine for purification. Water consumption has increased with population growth, but the municipality did not have a laboratory to test water for a long time. The District Development Committee decided to supply drinking water to Nuwara Eliya from Ambewela, which is a large-scale project. However, a proper plan hasn’t been implemented yet. The existing water pipes date back to the British colonial period, and the entire water system needs to be completely restructured,” he added.

When asked whether the consumption of contaminated water has affected the residents of Nuwara Eliya, the Director of Nuwara Eliya General Hospital Mahendra Seneviratne stated: “There is a problem with drinking water in Nuwara Eliya. We have built a water purification system for the hospital to provide patients with clean water. Patients visit the hospital for treatment of dysentery, vomiting, and diarrhoea. People from areas such as Welimada and Bandarawela also come here for treatment. Therefore, we cannot say that these illnesses are solely caused by the water problem; a proper study would be needed to determine that.”

Several attempts were made to obtain a response from the Peradeniya Water Supply and Drainage Board, but no reply was received. Thus, the right of reply on this matter remains open to the Board.

Our research indicated that E. coli and heavy metals are not completely eliminated by chlorination alone. This raises serious concerns about how authorities can claim that chlorination removes all heavy metals and faecal matter from the water consumed by Nuwara Eliya residents. This issue poses a potential violation of the basic rights of approximately 8,000 families, and it requires immediate attention from the relevant authorities.