The Defence Ministry’s Disaster Management Division will streamline all local authorities into disaster management to overcome the water scarcity that has affected thousands of people due to the sweltering heat, scorching groundwater and reservoirs across the country, a Defence Ministry official told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
Disaster relief centres across the island are poised to address the concerns of communities facing drinking water shortages in dry regions, with assistance from the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, sources said.
A spokesman for the Board said that the water levels in the Castlereigh and Maussakelle reservoirs had dropped by 25 feet and 23 feet from spill level.
When we inquired from the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) about the potential power cuts due to the water levels dropping, the Union’s President Dhanushka Parakrama said that despite the reservoir levels dropping to 70 percent, coupled with declining coal prices globally, the electricity supply will remain unaffected. He said that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) could maintain uninterrupted services even with reservoir water levels dropping to 20 percent.
The National Water Supply and Drainage Board yesterday called upon the public in low-lying areas to use water sparingly, while urging those in hilly regions to report any issues with pipe-borne water supplies by dialling “1939”. For emergency assistance, the Disaster Management Centre can be reached on “117”.
Deputy General Manager, Development of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, Anuja Kaluarachchi said that over 3,000 families in Kurunegala and Kegalle have run out of drinking water due to the extreme heat, and that the salinity level has increased in the Kelaniya river and they had set up salinity barriers to prevent saline water entering the treatment plants in Ambatale and Biyagama, she said.
We asked Disaster Management officials if the country is experiencing a dangerous climate change or if it is dealing with an impending drought. They said that a drought is looming large in the country, and almost every country is experiencing rising temperatures, worsening droughts, hurricanes, and floods caused by climate change.
The authorities have identified the North Central, North Western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, and Southern provinces as being particularly affected by the heat.
State Minister of Defence, Premitha Bandara Tennakoon has directed Disaster Management officials to have disaster relief service centres ready to identify potential shortages of drinking water in the affected regions.
The ministry with the help of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board will distribute drinking water to over 3,000 families in the Kurunegala and Kegalle districts where the temperature soared to 37 degrees Celsius yesterday.
Minister Tennakoon said the severe repercussions of prolonged drought, underscored heightened risks of wildlife poaching and forest fires. He called upon citizens to refrain from engaging in such destructive activities and called on the authorities, including the Forest Conservation Department, the Wildlife Department, and the Police, to enforce stringent penalties against perpetrators of forest fires.
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Use water sparingly or…
The National Water Supply and Drainage Board announced yesterday that if the public fails to use water sparingly, they will be compelled to impose supply restrictions in certain areas of the Western Province including Colombo.
The Board has already rationalised its water supplies to several areas in seven districts where shortages have been observed. These areas include Beruwala and Aluthgama in the Kalutara District; Nivithigala in the Ratnapura District; Narammala in the Kurunegala District; Gampalawatta, Ankumbura, Pussela, Pussellawa, Meewatura, and Paaradeka in the Kandy District; Hatton and Kotagala in the Nuwara Eliya District and Uru Bokka in the Matara District.
The Board has received numerous complaints regarding low water pressure from various areas in Colombo and Kalutara as well.
