The Floodgates of Gn.Fuvahmulah

Satellite Image of Gn.Fuvahmulah

 

The inside areas of Gn Fuvahmulah is lower than its edges. In other words, the land elevation of the coastal areas of the island is higher than the middle parts. During rainy seasons, the water from coastal areas of the island are collected in the middle parts due to runoff. Although the island was enriched with lots of wetlands which provides flood protection through holding of excess runoff after a downpour and then discharging these water tardily, the island was still vulnerable to flooding due to the lower land elevation in its middle areas.
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The government of Maldives came up with an idea of producing floodgates (locally known as aaru) to drain the excess flood water from different areas of the island so that the damages locals face due to floodwater could have been avoided. The other main reason for the construction of floodgates was the damages that excess flood cause to the taros grown in the wetlands. Taros were staple food of these islanders in the early twentieth century. In the late twentieth century, the rice and flour had been substituted to taros. However, people still love the taste of taros and different foods produced from taros.
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The floodgates were constructed by connecting one end of the floodgate to a wetland and the other end to the sea. The water discharged from the floodgate were transported to the sea. At the initial stage of floodgate construction, two floodgates were constructed in the eastern side of the island. One of the two floodgates was constructed by Prince Ibrahim Faamuladheyri Kilgefaanu, son of Sultan Mohamed Ghiyasudhin. The second floodgate was constructed by “Fokaidhoo Koi” , a prominent personality of the island.
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After the completion of first two floodgates, the government officials of the island used to call the locals to help them in making new floodgates whenever a new occurrence of flood occurs. The people responded to these requests by collecting the equipment that they use for the digging purposes. Next day, the locals would begin the work of digging and finished  their work when the water starts to flow from the floodgates. During these days, people from every four villages used to dig one floodgate. After completing the construction of floodgates, the government officials used to employ workers who took the responsibility of looking after the floodgates. These workers' duties included ensuring that no sand or pebbles are collected during storm surges and closing of the floodgates in case saltwater enters from the end that connects the floodgate to the sea. Locals started to dig five floodgates as the need for more floodgates arises.
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The digging of floodgates which was considered as a very tough work came to end after the government of Maldives decided to assist the locals by constructing modern types of floodgates. Therefore, four new floodgates were constructed by making  cement bases and concrete walls in the eastern side and south-west side of the island. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) financed the project. The consultant of the project was the Dr Crew Kulasooya from FAO. The construction of the floodgates was founded on 10th January 1984 and the work was completed by the end of the same year. The government employed two workers for each floodgate. The duties of each worker included looking after the floodgate until flood water drains during rainy seasons and the cleaning of floodgates. After the completion of  floodgates, the gates of  floodgates were opened to release the excess flood water whenever flooding occurs in the island. The floodgates were repaired in 1998.
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The floodgates are no longer beneficial to the locals due to the stopping of water transportation from different areas of the island to the end of the floodgate that is connected to the wetland. This is due to creation of new roads and streets in the island that restricted the flow of water effortlessly.

Note: This article is an English translation of the original article written under the same title by Mr Farooq Ahmed, former atoll chief of Fuvahmulah Island