News
Brief relief next week and then ‘extreme caution’ heat
The Department of Meteorology warned that despite an expected fall next week the heat index would rise to “Extreme Caution” level by April due to the sun’s overhead position over the island.
The heat index calculates the temperature felt by the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature.
“Extreme Caution” levels would be experienced in the North-Western Province and in the Mannar, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and Monaragala districts.
On the other hand, there will be showers and thundershowers in parts of the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva and North-Central provinces and in the Galle and Matara districts, meteorologist Kasun Pasqual said.
Reports issued by the Disaster Management Centre state the drought conditions have deprived 34,880 families of drinking water and water used for household purposes and of being able to gain a livelihood from farming.
The Sabaragamuwa, Central, Western, North-Western, and Southern provinces are affected by drought.
Health officials warned that if people failed to pay attention to their immune system they could contract all kinds of diseases.
The Head of Nursing at the National Hospital, Pushpa Soysa, refuted rumours that coronavirus was unable to spread during hot weather, saying, “It’s a new virus and it’s too early to draw a connection between the weather and the virus because countries with very hot weather have also contracted the virus”.
She said staying hydrated by drinking a lot of water was key during this period, as was avoiding long periods of exposure to the sun, especially from 11am to 3pm due to the danger of heatstroke.
The Ministry of Power and Energy said daily power demand had dropped to 40 gigawatt hours.
“During the first week of March the daily demand of the country was 49, almost nearing 50 gigawatt hours per day,” the ministry’s Director of Development, Sulakshana Jayawardena, said.
Water capacity at the main six reservoirs stood at 56.1 per cent on March 20, he said. Capacity at the Castlereagh reservoir was 40 per cent; at Maussakelle, 41.8 per cent; Kotmale, 42.3 per cent; Victoria, 69.8 per cent; Randenigala, 76.7 per cent and Samanalawewa, 46.4 per cent.
The Ministry of Agriculture said while the coronavirus pandemic had not yet affected cultivation, seed distribution to farmers had been temporarily halted due to the curfews imposed island-wide. If the curfews continued seed stocks might not reach famers in time to make the Yala harvest successful, the ministry’s Director of Socio-Economic Planning, Dr. R.M. Herath, said.