Over 37,000 acres (37,101) of paddy land has been destroyed by the present drought condition causing misery to 32,967 paddy farmers, Agriculture Ministry said.
The Ministry said Kurunegala district is the worst affected with 19,388 acres of paddy land destroyed. Over 22,000 farmers in Kurunegala have been affected by the present extreme dry spell.
Udawalawe paddy cultivation areas remain in second worst affected areas with over 10,000 acres destroyed by the drought.
Chairman of the Agrarian Insurance Board W.M.M.B. Weerasekare said the Board along with the Agriculture Ministry are currently assessing damages to paddy lands across the country.
He said 25 teams have been deployed to paddy cultivation areas while a special team from the head office has been sent to Udawalawe paddy zone.
A Sri Lankan man was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi airport for attempting to smuggle wildlife out of the country after three ball pythons were found hidden in his underwear, the Bangkok post reported.
Read these and more on tomorrow’s edition of the Sunday Times
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