Sri Lanka braces for extreme heat, degrading drinking water
VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka is facing the heat from a scorching sun for the past one month. In recent times, the country has imposed power cuts after almost a decade.
The main reason was the stoppage at a coal power plant, but engineers at the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) admit that the island’s hydro-power generation capacity is at such a critical low that without additional coal, diesel and renewable generation, the country’s full demand for power cannot be met.
In the south of the country, sea water has been seeping into the inland pumping stations causing degradation of drinking water. The water board said that parts of the southern province would have to endure water cuts as pumping stations try to deal with low water levels and sea water seepage.
Education minister, Akila Virag Kariyawasam, recently sent out a very unusual circular: He ordered all government schools to defer outdoor sports events till end of April or May. The reason given was warm weather like never experienced before.
Schools that are just days off from April holidays have begun to announce over public address systems asking students to remain within enclosures rather than venture outdoors.
April is usually a hot month. But this year has been exceptional.
“Hot weather prevailing around the country will continue till April, as the sun would come directly over Sri Lanka. The country’s temperature has increased by 3 °C during the day and 2 °C during the night than its normal value,” the government’s main information portal said.
According to the meteorological department, the annual average temperature is around 28.5C. The city readings were much higher than that with Anuradhapura 37C, Batticaloa 32C, capital Colombo 33C, Galle 33C, Jaffna 36C, Kandy 35C, Nuwara Eliya 24C (coldest location in the island, usually around 18C), Ratnapura 36C, Trincomalee 33C and Mannar 34C during the second week of March.
Weather experts have been at a loss to give a clear reason for the sharp rise. “The change in wind direction over the Indian Ocean could be one reason,” Sarath Premalal, director forecasting at the meteorological department said. Other contributing factors are the absence of cloud cover, rising ocean temperature due to El Nino and the position of the sun directly above the island.
The dry weather is likely to change with the onset of the monsoon, due from mid-May and not before that. Meanwhile, soaring temperatures impact power, agriculture and related sectors.
Already the country’s main reservoirs are mostly running below 30 per cent capacity. The two large reservoirs Victoria and Randenigala, have a higher storage capacity but the water needs to be conserved as a backup for the harvesting season that begins in April. CEB engineers’ union president, Athula Wanniarachchi, said that the government should consider a daily power cut of one hour. “This is the worst drought that we have had in five years, there should be awareness built among people on how severe the situation is,” he said. — AFP