Fifty families evacuated due to risk of earthslips

127 persons in 50 families were evacuated from a site that the National Building Research Institute marked as an ‘intense risk area’

Fifty families of an estate in the Haputale Divisional Secretariat were evacuated on Saturday evening in the wake of an abrupt risk of probable earthslips with heavy showers in the area, Badulla Disaster Management Assistant Director E.L.L. Udayakumara said.

Commenting on this concern, Haputale Divisional Secretary Sunil Abeykone stated that the risk situation arose with the persistence of 100mm rainfall in a short period of less than an hour.

He said 127 persons in 50 families were evacuated from a site that the National Building Research Institute marked as an ‘intense risk area.’

Further, the Divisional Secretary added that those evacuated had been provided with temporary shelter at Yahalabedda Vidyalaya in Haputale, and that the estate administration had made arrangements to provide them with meals.

Meanwhile, the Haputale Police have cautioned the drivers over the probable danger of collapsing boulders on a stretch of 25km between Haputale and Marangahawela along the Colombobadulla main road.

According to the police, one lane in the Beragala-haputale road has been closed for traffic from Saturday night onwards due to the obstruction caused with the heap of earth washed away by the rain.