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Rain fills reservoirs but problems persist in NCP
The inter monsoon rains that started a week ago have spread island wide bringing to an end the dry spell, with many parts of the country experiencing thunder showers during the latter part of the day.
The Anuradhapura districts, one of the worst drought-hit areas in the North Central Province has been receiving above average rainfall, according to Chief Meteorologist Ananda Jayasinghearachchi.
However, Anuradhapura District Secretary Mahinda Seneviratne said the rainfall received was not adequate for a successful ‘Maha’ cultivation which required the resources of almost all 3000 tanks in the province. He added in spite of the rains the tanks held only 15 to 25 per cent of their total capacities. This was insufficient to cultivate the 57,000 acres of paddy land in the district.
Meanwhile, Polonnaruwa District Secretary Nimal Abeysiri said the water of the Parakrama Samudraya would not be released for cultivation, until at least half of the tank was filled up.
He also added that due to the inconsistency of the rains, the farmers were not in a position to decide on the amount of water they would need from the irrigation channels, to cultivate their crops.
According to Meteorological Department statistics, some reservoirs of the Mahaweli Zone only hold about 50 per cent of their capacity, with the Maussakele reservoir holding less than ten per cent of its capacity.
However, Nuwara Eliya District Secretary said the other reservoirs of the Central Province were starting to fill up fast with Polgolla already full and Upper Kotmale almost full. He said the prevailing weather pattern that saw rain in the evenings and bright sunshine in the daytime was ideal to attract more tourists to the district.
On the negative side, lightning has claimed eight deaths for this month alone with 43 being reported up to date for this year. Meteorological Department officials said that in spite of warnings to the public to take precautions against lightning the number of deaths had increased.
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