Nine dead, over 66,000 affected due to adverse weather

Floods and landslides caused by torrential rains with serious lightning and winds in Sri Lanka have left nine people dead, 23 missing the national Disaster Management Center (DMC) said in its latest report issued last night.

The DMC report said 23,741 people have been displaced and sheltered in 163 safe places while 66,340 people belonging to17,569 families have been affected by the adverse weather.

The authorities said a complete array of relief measures have been implemented targeting the affected people island wide.

The government has deployed the Army and Navy to rescue the flood stranded and provide relief to the affected people as the water levels in several tributaries of major rivers are still rising although water levels of the major rivers are receding.

Water levels of the Attanagalu Oya and Uruwal Oya are on the rise affecting areas in Gampaha, Attanagalla, and Wattala. Divulapitiya, Dompe, Minuwangoda, Biyagama, Mirigama and Kelaniya areas have severely been affected by the floods the state run ITN reported.

Several low lying areas in Ranbima, Welihinda, and Yakadagalla were submerged as Maa Oya overflowed. Roads in the areas were also inundated and vehicular transportation was obstructed.

The railway service from in between Chilaw and Thummodera has been curtailed due to the overflow of Hamilton Canal with the incessant rains.

Transportation in Naattandiya, Kuliyapitiya and Dankotuwa has been handicapped. Many parts of the Kegalle District were also affected by the incessant rainy condition. Around 920 families were affected and two people were reportedly killed by the natural hazard in the district.

Meanwhile, Baddegama, Naagoda, Thelikada, Agaliya and several other areas in the Galle district affected by flooding. Seven teams have been dispatched to carry out relief activities in the Galle district.

Several low lying areas on the Kelani river basin was also submerged with overflowing of the river. The access road to the Kaduwela town was also inundated and transportation was restricted.

JO request for weather debate rejected 

• JVP-led debate on fuel price increase in P’ment today 

By Ashwin Hemmathagama - Our Lobby Correspondent

The UPFA Joint Opposition parliamentary group’s request to move a motion seeking an urgent debate on par with the Parliament Standing Order 19 (1), which provides for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance, was rejected yesterday.

Rejecting the Joint Opposition’s motion, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya said: “Received a request from the JVP first to talk about the fuel price issue. The second request was from the Joint Opposition parliamentary group. I have agreed to give a debate to the JVP tomorrow to move the motion on the fuel price issue. But there is no requirement to make room for a debate today as a separate debate on environment will also be held on Wednesday. We have come to an agreement on this at the party leaders meeting.”

According MP Gunawardena, the request for an urgent debate was to highlight the rain affected areas in the country and to stress the effective distribution of relief. 

“The Joint Opposition, with the signatures of 54 members, has requested this debate. Apart from these members there are 16 other lawmakers who support this debate,” said MP Gunawardena. “Heavy rain and landslides in most parts of the country have led to the loss of lives and property. Ratnapura, Kalutara, Galle, Matara and the Uva and the Central provinces are badly affected. Our debate was aimed at proving the necessity and importance of the quick distribution of relief to those who are affected. On the other hand, the debate will also focus on the sudden increase of the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene oil and the impact on food, milk powder and transport prices,” he added.