News
Photo focus: Nature’s wrath wreaks havoc in NCP
A farmer looks helplessly at his one-time paddy field which now resembles a sand bank
Several areas in the North Central province suffered severe damage as a result of last month’s devastating floods. Farming communities are among the worst affected.
The damage is so severe that many farmers believe it would take years for them to recover from the disaster.
Around 400 houses in the Neelabemma farming colony in Karuwalagaswewa and some areas in the Kurunegala District were inundated by flood waters. Most residents were able to escape with only the clothes on their backs.
Around 1,000 acres of farmland in the colony was totally destroyed and many paddy lands in the nearby Saliyawewa area were also destroyed.
At Jayanthipura in Giribawa, Kurunegala around 100 acres of farmland were destroyed; a major irrigation canal as well as roads and bridges along it too were washed away.
Farmers point out that the rich topsoil in their farmlands have been washed away and replaced with either hard clay or river sand, making farming activity impossible.
Added to the farmers’ woes is the fact that they are unable to remove sand from their paddy fields without permission from local authorities.
While members of the Civil Defence Force (CDF) are assisting the people in reconstruction programmes and efforts to restart economic activities, the road ahead is both uncertain and difficult.
Around 400 homes were completely destroyed by the raging waters
Members of the CDF assisting affected families
The state response to those who lost their all to nature’s wrath
This unfortunate under-graduate whose home was flooded tries to dry her notes, texts and books which were soaked in the flood waters
This irrigation canal at Giribawa in the Kurunegala district along with the road and bridges were all washed away covering fields with sand.