Maussakele, Castlereigh water levels dwindling

The water level in the Maussakele and Castlereigh reservoirs have been fast dwindling due to the prevailing dry weather in the upcountry.

Engineers said the water level in the Maussakele reservoir stood 78ft below the spillover level last morning and that the capacity of the reservoir had declined by about 60 percent. They said the water level in the Castlereigh reservoir was 33ft below the spillover level.

As the reservoirs ran dry, old buildings including temples, mosques and kovils in the old Maskeliya town emerged from beneath the water. A Buddhist temple with a statue of the Buddha, the Kadireshan Hindu temple, Pullair Kovil and a mosque were among them.

Maussakele and Castlereigh reservoirs are the main hydropower reservoirs that feed Laxapana, New Laxapana, Polpitiya, Wimalasurendra and Canyon hydropower complexes.