Community Survey on Anthropogenic Activities Affecting the Rawan-Oya Tributary of Mahaweli River in Kandy District, Sri Lanka

Rivers are polluted due to various anthropogenic activities. The objective of this study was to carry out a community survey on the anthropogenic activities that contribute to the pollution of the Rawan-Oya tributary of the Mahaweli River. A questionnaire survey was conducted interviewing the household members (n = 120) along the river representing rural, agricultural, urban, and semiurban areas. Questions were asked to assess the knowledge, practices, and attitudes of the respondents toward river water pollution. One-half of the rural households had a water supply from the tributary, and they use this water for drinking and cooking. A significant proportion of rural and agrarian communities regularly depended on the stream for bathing and agriculture. Gray-water diversion into the stream was significantly higher in the urban and semiurban areas, and the distances between the toilet pits and the stream were significantly low in urban areas as compared to rural areas. Respondents claimed that stream water quality and its desirability were significantly low in urban areas as compared to rural areas. The rural community has a positive attitude, perception, and ethnic knowledge on the importance of conserving the stream ecosystem as they obtain more benefits from the stream as compared to urban and semiurban communities.