St. Clair's Falls (Little Niagara of Sri Lanka) - Talawakele

St. Clair's Falls is one the widest waterfalls in Sri Lanka ("Bomburu Ella" in Welimada is the widest). St. Clair's Falls is called the "Little Niagara of Sri Lanka". and it is one of the most politically discussed environmental entities in Sri Lanka.

It is situated 3 km west of the town of Talawakele on the Hatton-Talawakele Highway in Nuwara Eliya District. The falls derived its name from a nearby tea estate. The Falls is 80m high and hence 20th highest waterfall in Sri Lanka. St. Clair's falls comprises two falls called "Maha Ella" (Sinhalese "The Greater Fall") and "Kuda Ella," (Sinhalese "The Lesser Fall") which is 50m high and was created by a tributary of Kotmale Oya.
From the inception of the Upper Kothmale Project, Sri Lanka's last major hydro-electricity project, the environmentalists protested concerning that the waterfall is threatened by the Upper Kotmale Dam. But the Government ensures the existence of the waterfall and the project is currently underway.

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