The British Agent of Revenue and Commerce in 1802, Garvin Hamilton. started a new canal to the east of the earlier cut canal by Sinhalese king and the Dutch. This canal was meant to link the Dutch canal by a series of parallel canals designed to drain the Muturajawela. what happened was the opposite as the high tide brought salinity not only from the Negombo lagoon but also from the Kelani river. Thus, the Hamilton Canal was born, named after Garvin Hamilton, and stretching 14.5km from Colombo to Negombo.