Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

Water supply can’t meet hot-weather demand

- By Kasun Warakapiti­ya

The Irrigation and Meteorolog­y Department­s are calling on the public to use water sparingly during the next few days.

Below- average rainfalls and high temperatur­es have been reported throughout the month.

Ir rigation Department Director-General S. Mohanaraja­h said farmers have been told to use water sparingly to avoid shortages at the end of the month.

“The Irrigation Department’s tanks has an average of 70 per cent of water remaining and can provide water for Yala season cultivatio­n,” he said, but added, “As we have not had sufficient rains we have to preserve water.”

“Evaporatio­n is rapid due to the high temperatur­es so the farmers must strictly manage water.”

The water board is also facing difficulti­es as the public is using more water in the heat and says it cannot assure a reliable supply.

“Due to increased demand, people living in inner-city areas and in elevated areas are experienci­ng poor water supply due to lack of water pressure,” Board Chairman K.A. Ansar said.

He said people must preserve water and use purified drinking water only for drinking and other essential activities.

Mr. Ansar said water supply in the Kalutara District has been affected due to an increase in salinity in the Kalu Ganga. People there are being sent drinking water in bowsers and told to use the river-pipe water for cleaning.

Farmers and people who are living remote areas are badly in need of drinking water.

Polonnaruw­a District Secretary Panduka Abeywarden­a said eight water bowsers have been deployed to provide drinking water for four divisional secretaria­t areas that have 4,300 families resident.

“We have sufficient water for Yala season cultivatio­n but we have been preserving tank water by not releasing water to the canals, and that means we have to send out bowsers to give people drinking water,” he said.

Water was being released into the canals from Friday and this will continue until tomorrow (Monday).

Hambantota District Secretary Bandula Harischand­ra said 17 bowsers are being dispatched daily to local government areas including Tissamahar­ama and Lunugamweh­era.

“We are preserving tank water for cultivatio­n activities so we are providing drinking water to people via bowsers,” he said.

He said discussion­s had been held between the secretaria­t and the NWSDB on Wednesday to create an action plan.

“We agreed to use our water bowsers to transport water to areas where the NWSDB is failing to provide water, and in return they arranged us access to their water source,” he said.

He added that officials have plans to dig wells in marshy farmlands in search of water if the poor situation continues.

In the Matara district, 10,246 people are facing a water shortage and District Secretary Pradeep Ratnayaka said he had ordered water bowsers to be deployed to stricken areas such as Devinuwara, Matara, Dickwella, Kirindapuh­ulwella and Hakmana.

Devinuwara is the worst- affected area, with almost 4,000 people in need, and there are complaints that not enough is being done to help them.

Most of the paddy cultivatio­n in the Hambantota region has come to a standstill due to lack of water.

The Meteorolog­y Department said little rainfall is expected, not enough to fill the tanks and reservoirs.

Meteorolog­ical Department Director Anusha Warnasoori­ya said she hoped for some rain in the evenings but added that the day’s heat would remain due to the lack of breezes during the inter-monsoonal period.

Ms. Warnasoori­ya advised people to be cautious of the heat and also be prepared for thundersho­wers in the North, North-Central, North-Western and Eastern provinces and in the Monaragala District after 2pm. Additional reporting by Krishan Jeewaka Jayaruk

 ??  ?? Hit by the water crisis, desperate Matara residents buy bottled water. In the Matara district, 10,246 people are affected by the water shortage, according to the District Secretary
Hit by the water crisis, desperate Matara residents buy bottled water. In the Matara district, 10,246 people are affected by the water shortage, according to the District Secretary

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Sri Lanka