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Raging floods in six districts: 40,000 displaced, transport hampered
View(s):Raging flood waters that hit the districts of Batticaloa, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Puttalam, Trincomalee and Mannar yesterday left more than 40,000 people displaced; road transportation crippled and hundreds of acres of paddy land inundated.
The eastern district of Batticaloa was the worst hit with more than 30,000 people displaced. The AGA divisions of Kiran, Valaichchenei and Morakotanchenai suffered the most damage.Government Agents of these districts have obtained the assistance of disaster management officials and the military, especially the Navy, to evacuate people. Pilgrims and residents of the sacred city of Anuradhapura are being immediately evacuated as tanks in the district are at spill level.
Anuradhapura District Secretary Mahinda Seneviratne said more than 3,000 wevas, including the 29 big wevas and 83 medium ones, had reached spill level and families in the areas were evacuated. “The safety of pilgrims and foreign visitors is being given priority. They have been evacuated from hotels near major tanks while pilgrims were removed from the sacred city,” he said.
According to Mr. Seneviratne, about 9,000 displaced people from Rajanganaya, Galenbindunuwewa, Thalawa and Anuradhapura AGA divisions have been settled in 20 welfare centres with meals provided. As a result of Malwathuoya bursting its banks, several areas of the Anuradhapura city have come under water with the prison complex also being affected by the floods.
In the Mannar District more than 400 people have been evacuated to welfare centres, the Disaster Management Centre said. DMC Spokesman Sarath Lal Kumara said pilgrims who were stranded at the holy site of Somawathiya in Polonnaruwa district were also rescued with the assistance of the Navy. Kinniya in Trincomalee has also been badly hit by the floods.
North Central, Eastern, Northern, Uva and Central provinces are experiencing heavy showers with increasing flood and landslide threats. The National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) yesterday warned residents in the Matale, Kandy, Badulla and Nuwara Eliya districts of possible landslides if the rain continued.
Met Department Forecaster Jeewan Karunaratne said a disturbance in the upper atmosphere had activated the north-east monsoon.“We are expecting heavy rains in the coming weeks as atmospheric disturbances are occurring in a wave pattern,” he said.
The floods have also hampered road and railway transport services. Last night’s mail trains from Colombo Fort to Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Jaffna were cancelled after the tracks came under water at several places.