More than 100,000 Internally Displaced People (IDP) in Wanni camps are without proper shelter as heavy rains begin to lash the area.
Zone two and four of the Menik Farm Camp were the worst affected as the rain water flowing through the camp has made it impossible for the people who are in temporary shelters made of plastic sheets to stay in their tents.
“We have provided cooked meals for the affected people and we are preparing to relocate the people if the situation becomes worse,” Vavuniya’s Government Agent C.H.M Charles said.
She said they had identified several schools where the displaced could be accommodated.
The camp site has got soggy, making it difficult for people to walk and for vehicles to move. The gully suckers and drinking water bowsers have not been able to reach the camps due to these conditions, an NGO consortium official in Vavuniya said.
Most of the temporary plywood toilets put up by UN agencies have also given way, further reducing the number of toilets. Some of the toilet pits have overflowed, NGP workers said.Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Ministry Secretary U. L. M Halaldeen said the people whose shelters had gone under water were being moved to temporary schools inside the camps.
However, NGO workers said the available space was not sufficient.
Tamil National Alliance Vanni district parliamentarian Sivashaktheey Ananthan said dry rations were now wet and cooking was impossible as the common kitchens were flooded. Even individual cooking had come to a halt as no dry space or firewood was available inside the camp.
The adverse weather has also affected camp students sitting the Advanced Level exam.
Meanwhile after two days of rain in Trincomalee, Eastern Provincial Council officials visited the IDP camp in Pulmudai which houses 7000 individuals to take precautionary measures to avoid a situation similar to what has happened in Vavuniya.
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