News
Hot weather to stay for a few more days
View(s):
The arid and warm weather will remain for a few more days, the Meteorological Department said yesterday.
This week, the Department issued warnings of scorching weather conditions due to the lack of wind movements across Sri Lanka.
Duty Forecaster Janaka Kumara said the arid weather marked the end of the Northeastern monsoon.
“There are no winds flowing into the country. Therefore, there are no cloud formations. The clear sky allows sun rays to enter the atmosphere and heat the air particles at the upper portion,” he said.
In its advisory, the Department warned the people in the Northern, North Central and North Western provinces and in the Monaragala and Hambantota Districts of the extreme hot weather and urged them to drink more water, avoid working in the hot sun and stay under a shade as much as possible.
The amber warning, so described in terms of the department’s heat index, also said that due to the high temperature, people exposed to sun could get dehydrated, suffer from heat cramps, exhaustion or heatstroke.
Meanwhile, the Water Supply and Drainage Board said that due to the hot weather, pipe-borne water consumption had increased and the demand was soaring.
“The increased demand has reduced the water pressure, but we are managing to provide uninterrupted water for our customers by regulating the valves in the piping systems,” Chairman K.A. Ansar said.
He said only 50 percent of the people in the country had access to pipe-borne water, while the rest used wells.
“The tube wells are drying up in many areas. We are sending bowsers to the people in such areas,” he said, urging the public to use water sparingly.
“We would appreciate if our customers would stop using pipe-borne water to water their plants and wash their vehicles,” he said. Pix by Priyanka Samaraweera, Hiran Priyankara and Sameera Weerasekera
| Beat the heat: Health Ministry guidelines The Health ministry has issued a set of guidelines to beat the mid -day heat. The Director of Health Promotion Bureau, Dr Paba Palihawadana issuing the notice, has given the following advice to the general public:
She advised parents and schoolteachers not to allow children to play outside, especially during midday and not to leave children inside vehicles.
| |
| Use electricity sparingly,says Power and Energy MinistryThe Power and Energy Ministry has requested the public to use electricity sparingly as the electricity contribution from the hydro power plants has dropped by 20 percent.According to a Ministry release, the power plants had reached the highest daily electricity demand of 42.4 Gigawatt hours on Thusday. The release added that measures are being taken to provide an uninterrupted 24- hour power supply to the people. |