The Minister further said that the project will not be stopped entirely, but temporarily until the issues related to the project are looked into.

People in the Uva Province even held several protest campaigns against the project due to its adverse environmental impact.

Uma Oya is one of the remaining hydro sites and Uma Oya Multipurpose Development project which is implemented by the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Management in coordination with the Ministry of Power & Energy and Ceylon Electricity Board. The plant will add 120 MW to the generation system with 230GWh of annual energy generation. The estimated cost of the project is 529 million USD and 85% of the total project cost is provided by the Government of Iran through Export and Development Bank as a loan.