The major risk of the water leak of the Aluth Divulwewa tank has been controlled and the vulnerable sections of the earthen bund near the South sluice have been reinforced with sandbags with the assistance of military personnel and the villagers.
The situation will be fully under control by today (January 12) and steps will be taken to reconstruct the damaged bund of the lake, Anuradhapura District Secretary K.G.R. Wimalasuriya told the Sunday Observer yesterday.
He said since the issue was first detected on Friday morning (January 10), efforts to mitigate the situation were undertaken with personnel from the Irrigation Department, Army, Police, and villagers. They made collaborative efforts to reinforce the vulnerable sections of the tank wall with sandbags by temporarily stemming the water flow. Incisions were made in two places of the bund to minimise the risk of high water pressure coming out of the tank, he said. Wimalasuriya said there was a water leak near the sluice gate of the tank. When the villagers first saw that, they had informed the Police and the authorities. Therefore, they averted a major disaster as immediate measures were taken to address the situation with the assistance of the villagers. As a precautionary measure, nearly 25 families in the vicinity were evacuated to safer locations.
The Aluth Divulwewa tank is the second largest tank in the Galenbindunuwewa Divisional Secretariat division and nearly 320 acres of paddy fields have been cultivated using the waters of the Aluth Divulwewa tank during this Maha Season.
Parliamentarian P.D.N.K. Palihena visited the location to observe the situation and said further measures will be taken quickly.
