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Further water cut in store
By Shelani Perera
The Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) which imposed a three hour water cut from Thursday in the Colombo and Greater Colombo area has warned of a further water cut if the situation does not improve.

The three hour water cut from 9.00 am to 12 noon will be reviewed within the next two weeks. The three water supply reservoirs to the Colombo and greater Colombo area-Ambatale, Labugama and Kalatuwawa have been under scrutiny during the last few weeks following dry weather for the last one month.

Of the three reservoirs the worst affected is Kalatuwawa, where the spill level is 48 feet. The water in the reservoir has dropped to 27 feet below spill level. The level in the other two reservoirs have dropped to two feet below spill level.

Additional General Manager, Colombo Metropolitan Region of the NWSDB, Ananda de Silva told The Sunday Times that the present quantity of water is sufficient only for two months.

" It is because of this that we imposed the water cut in order to conserve water. We will review the situation in two weeks. If the situation has not improved we will be compelled to increase the three hour cut. With the present dry weather where we did not have rain for the last one and a half months, it is difficult to say that things will improve" he said.

Sathosa milk stirs controversy
By Shanika Udawatte
One brand of 'Sathosa' milk powder, carries the Sri Lanka Standards Institute certification though no certificate has been given, an official said. He said the Sathosa milk powder in blue packets had been given the SLS certificate but the yellow packets had not been a certificate though they carried the seal.

The official said legal action could have been taken but no such move was made since the CWE was a state institution. The matter was raised in parliament by the JVP which charged that the CWE was committing an offence of criminally cheating the people.

But consumer Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake rejected the charges saying no SLS certificate was required for local products though packets of milk had got approval. He accused the JVP of trying to hit the poor and promote multi-national milk companies which were funding the party.

Ashraff Congress: No politics
While MP Ferial Ashraff expressed doubts regarding the creation of yet another political entity, the Ashraff Congress, a supposedly "social service organisation" was formed early this week.

The main objectives of the Ashraff Congress(AC) are to achieve peace and social and economic development, the leader of the AC, S. Zubairdeen told The Sunday Times, adding that "at the moment" the Congress does not have political objectives.

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