It was during the recent years Polonnaruwa once again became populated and brightened by rays of development.  That was because of the benefits it accrued through the development programmes of this government during the last 4 years.  There are 657 villages spread throughout Polonnaruwa district covering a land area of 3337.9 sq. km.  There are 295 Grama Niladhari Divisions in the district administered by 7 Divisional Development Secretariat Divisions.  The number of Police Stations in the district amounts to 7.  There are 232 schools in the District.  The number of Samurdhi Recipient families in the District amounts to 32212 and the district’s population of 449,509.

Agriculture is the main industry in the district and it contributes 478,922 tons of paddy annually to the national paddy production.

Overall Development
Polonnaruwa was given a prime place in the giant development projects implemented throughout the country during the last 4 years.  The total number of development projects implemented in the district from 2006 to 2009 amounted to 5035 projects.  The government spent Rs. 26,175.68 million in this regard.  The government implemented these projects in the fields of Agricultural Industry, road development, education, health, irrigation, water supply, electricity, social development, and on other sectors, during the last 4 years. 
Under the decentralized budget a total amount of Rs. 107.66 was spent for implementation of development projects in the district.



The breakdown of this expenditure was as follows:

Rs. 24.22 Million in 2006
Rs.27.65 Million in 2007,
Rs. 29.53 Million in 2008 and
Rs. 26.26 Million in 2009.

The Ministry of Plan Implementation spent Rs. 3712 for projects in the district.  Details of these expenditure are : Rs. 649.55 Million in 2006, Rs. 815.43 in 2007, Rs. 955.68 Million in 2008 and Rs. 1,292.14 Million in 2009. 

Provision of funds through Provincial Council during the last 4 years amounted to Rs. 1,211.13 Million, allocated as Rs. 196.52 in the year 2006, Rs. 252.99 in 2007, Rs. 282.32 in 2008, and Rs. 479.30 in the year 2009. 

Through Local Government Institutions a total amount of Rs. 322.84 Million was allocated representing Rs. 51.78 Million in 2006, Rs. 83.38 in 2007, Rs. 94.54 million in 2008 and Rs. 479.30 Million in 2009. 
A further sum of Rs. 3365.53 was spent during the last 4 years under Government’s special development programme scheme.  This accounted to Rs. 480.70 million spent in 2006, Rs. 710.27 Million spent in 2007, Rs. 865.25 Million spent in 2008 and Rs. 1309.06 spent in 2009.

The government also spent Rs. 17,455.54 Million during the last four years for development of the Polonnaruwa District the State Institutions and other allocations.  This sum was spent in the form of Rs. 1,228.17 million in 2006, Rs. 3,679.28 in 2007, Rs. 6,396.68 million in 2008 and Rs. 6,151.18 in 2009.

Development of the Agricultural Industry



The government paid special attention to develop, particularly the agricultural industry in the Polonnaruwa district during the last 4 years.  In this regard 35 agricultural developments were implemented in the year 2006 at a cost of Rs. 144.75 million, 48 projects in 2007 at a cost of Rs. 231.60 million, 66 projects in 2008 at a cost of Rs. 231.67 million, and 50 projects at a cost of Rs. 311.19 million in the year 2009.

Road Development



Similarly the government implemented 1046 road development projects in the Polonnaruwa district during the last 4 years.  186 of these projects were implemented in the year 2006 at a cost of Rs. 1,196.93 Million, 264 projects at a cost of Rs. 3,090 Million in 2007, 371 projects in 2008 at a cost of Rs. 5,807.74 million, and 325 projects in the year 2009 at a cost of 5,974.29 Million.

Educational Development

The government which realizes that a productive population could be raised through providing adequate educational facilities, implemented  many projects throughout the island during the last 4 years for raising the educational standards.  The Polonnaruwa District, which was an educationally backward district, was with 1005 of these projects.  These projects were implemented as 111 projects in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 209.50 million, 270 projects in 2007 at a cost of Rs. 248.78 million, 228 projects in 2008 at a cost of Rs. 439.11 million, and 396 projects in the year 2009 at a cost of 470.96 Million.

Development of Health Facilities
For the development of  health facilities in the Polonnaruwa District the government spent Rs. 1,264.49 Million during the last 4 years, for implementation of 205 health facilities projects.  .  These projects were implemented as 49 projects in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 220 million, 52 projects in 2007 at a cost of Rs. 328.02 million, 55 projects in 2008 at a cost of Rs. 376,29 million, and 49 projects in the year 2009 at a cost of 340.18Million.

Development of Irrigation



The government implemented 209 projects in the district during the last 4 years for development of Irrigation at a cost of Rs. 1,283.77 Million.  .  These projects were implemented as 45 projects in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 181.80 million, 69 projects in 2007 at a cost of Rs. 295.77 million, 51 projects in 2008 at a cost of Rs. 366.61 million, and in the year 2009, 44 projects were implemented at a cost of 440.59 Million.

Water Supply Schemes



The government spent Rs. 1,679.56 Million for implementing 239 water supply schemes in the Polonnaruwa district during the last 4 years.  .  These funds were spent respectively for  41 projects in 2006 at a cost of Rs. 277million, 45 projects in 2007 at a cost of Rs. 368.90 million, for 68 projects at a cost of Rs. 44.78 million in 2007, and for 85 projects in the year 2009 at a cost of 590.88 Million.



Electricity Supply
Another major expenditure made by the government for the development of the Polonnaruwa district during the last 4 years, was for supply of electricity in the district.  In this regard the government implemented 1131 projects at a cost of Rs. 1,337.94 Million, spending Rs. 116.16 Million on 249 projects in 2006, Rs. 394.38 Million on 471 projects in 2007, Rs. 406.28 Million on 308 projects in 2008 and Rs. 421.12 Million on 103 projects in the year 2009.

Social Welfare
Social Welfare is a prime requisite to raise the living standards of the people.  Hence the government spent Rs. 1,059.03 Million for implementing 183 social development projects in the district during the last 4 years.  Details of the project so implemented and the cost incurred are : Rs. 170.91 Million for 45 projects in 2006, Rs. 242.43 milliion for 43 projects in 2007, Rs. 265.89 for 42 projects in 2008 and Rs. 379.80 million for 53 projects in 2009.

Other Development Projects
In addition to aforementioned projects relating to Agriculture, Road, Education, Health, Irrigation, Water Supply, Electricity, Social Welfare the government also implemented several other development projects to develop the district of Polonnaruwa during the last four years.  A sum of Rs. 2,631 was spent to implement 908 such projects.  Details of this expenditure are: Rs. 5,596 million on 1512 projects in 2007, Rs. 8,624 million on 1373 projects in 2008 and Rs. 9,351 million on 1242 projects.



Among the huge development activities carried out in the district, construction of the Manampitiya Bridge takes a prime place.  The government spent Rs. 485.3 million.  Further, in order to raise health facilities in the district, the inpatient ward complex was constructed at the Polonnaruwa Hospital at a cost of Rs. 450 million in the year 2006. 

The largest development work carried out in the district in the year 2007 was the development of the Maradankadawela-Habarana main road.  A sum of Rs. 1456 million was spent on this project.  In order to boost educational facilities in the district the government spent Rs. 19.27 million for the construction of a two storied building of the Royal College, Polonnaruwa.

In the year 2008, the government developed the Maradankadawela-Madu Road and the Habarana-Kantale Roads.  The expenditure incurred in this regard was Rs. 2,938.52 Million. 

In the year 2009, the government spent Rs. 100 Million for construction of 3 bridges on the Access Road to Somawathiya and Rs. 26.1 Millon for development work at Senapura Rehabilitation Camp. 
The district which was surrouned by the war zone received all these facilities at the time that government was spending heavily to defeat the terrorist menace.  In the forthcoming development era, undoubtedly the district will become one of the especially focused districts in the island.