President instructs officials to provide immediate relief to people affected by adverse weather conditions

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to provide immediate relief to those affected by the adverse weather conditions across the country.

He also instructed the Defence Ministry Secretary to ensure special attention is given to the safety of people in districts impacted by floods and landslides and to provide necessary support for effective relief operations.

The President emphasised that the Government will take action to provide necessary assistance to all affected citizens and that local Government officials in the affected areas will be engaged to ensure the people receive the required aid. Until such time, the President requested the public to act cautiously.

Additionally, the President instructed theFinance Ministry to allocate Rs. 50 million for relief services and urged State officials to ensure proper coordination in delivering the relief to those in need.

According to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), 118,210 individuals from 30,017 families have been affected by floods and landslides in 13 districts due to the adverse weather conditions experienced in last couple of days.

A total of 6,852 individuals from 1,721 families are being sheltered in 79 safety locations as of yesterday. Relief operations in all affected districts have already begun, coordinated by State officials through the Chief of Defence Staff’s office.

Emergency situations can be reported by contacting the Disaster Management Centre’s hotline number 117or by calling 0112136136, 0112136222, or 0112670002.