Cabinet approves relief to families affected by floods

 President Wickremesinghe yesterday undertook an observation tour by air to assess the flood situation

• Appoints committee under leadership of District Secretary of Colombo to prepare detailed development plan to redesign Kolonnawa town 

By Charumini de Silva

The Cabinet of Ministers on Monday approved a proposal furnished by Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to provide relief to families affected by the floods and to immediately implement a hasty program to restore public infrastructure facilities with the services of the tri-forces and the

Civil Defence force along with the contribution of other Ministries.

Thousands of families have been temporarily affected due to landslides, falling of trees, floods as well as extreme damage to public infrastructure facilities due to extreme rain in a number of districts in the country as a result of weather changes developing unexpectedly with the activation of the South Western monsoonal conditions. 

In addition, provision of relief to communities devastated due to the flood condition in the Kolonnawa area, was also approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Considering the facts forwarded by the public during the President’s visit on Monday. Accordingly, supplying food and other essential services to the public affected by the flood in Kolonnawa and in other areas, removing illegal constructions that caused flood within Kolonnawa Divisional Secretariat Division, stopping land fillings and renovation of drainage system of the area including all other relevant activities, identifying the fundamental reasons to cause flooding in the area, recommending the actions to be taken to avoid recurrence of such circumstances in the future were approved.

Additionally, the approval has been granted to appoint a committee chaired by the District Secretary/Government Agent of Colombo and comprising of representatives of the relevant authorities including the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and the Department of Irrigation. This committee will inquire into the possible root causes of the floods in the Kolonnawa area and recommend remedial measures to be taken to avoid such recurrences of floods in the area in future. They will also prepare a comprehensive Development Plan for the Kolonnawa Divisional Secretariat Division, focusing on reorganising the town and maximising the utilisation of available lands. 

The committee has been informed to submit the report to the President within one month, facilitating the President to submit it to the Cabinet along with the relevant recommendations. President Wickremesinghe on Monday undertook an observation tour to assess the situation and discussions on the needs of flood-affected residents with local officials in Colombo’s suburbs, including Kolonnawa. A memorandum was presented to address immediate relief and long-term solutions to direct relevant authorities to implement several urgent actions.