Be careful with drinking water, don't use it to water plants
Govt. warns of dry weather conditions until the monsoon hopefully comes in April
In view of the prevailing dry weather, the Irrigation Ministry has urged people to use water sparingly as the Government is striving to preserve water until the inter-monsoon as expected comes in April.
I r r i g at i o n D i rector D. Abeysiriwardena said the water management committee had decided to prioritise the preservation of water for drinking and cultivation.
He said they decided on this move to preserve water until the inter-monsoonal period.
“Now there is enough water remaining within the reservoirs to cater to drinking and cultivation until the inter-monsoonal period, however the allocations of water for hydro-power generation will be limited to 30 percent of the water capacity,” he said.
Mr Abeysiriwardena said they had issued 70 percent of the water capacity for hydro-power generation during October, November and December up to January 15, to meet the power demand during the power crisis due to a lack of fuel. Yet as the water levels receded, they had decided to reduce the release of water for power generation.
He said even though there was an average of 68 percent of water in tanks there was only around an average 50 percent of water remaining in the reservoirs which contribute to the generation of hydro-power.
Meanwhile, a senior Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) official, said currently the CEB was able to supply power for the upcoming weeks without an interruption as it planned to resume power generation from the Norochcholai coal power plant.
He said even though the draw down of water from the hydro-power plants to meet the demand would cause issues in power generation within a two month period.
The official said they were forced to manage water at reservoirs, as the meteorology department had said it expected rains in mid April.
Meteorology Department Director General Athula Karunanayake said the dry weather would prevail until mid April.
He said there could be temporary light showers in the North, Eastern and Uva provinces during this weekend and on Monday, the rest of the country would experience dry weather conditions.
“If there are no major changes in the bay of Bengal, the prevailing weather conditions will remain unchanged until mid April,” the DG said.
He said even though the inter-monsoon was due to take place during the March to April period due to the current weather patterns the monsoon could be expected in April.
The DG said they had held the Monsoon Forum with all stakeholders such as the Agriculture Department, the Irrigation Department, the Water Board and the CEB.
"We have notified them that the rainfall will be below average," he said.
The National Water Supply and Drainage Board ( NWSDB) has urged the people to use drinking water sparingly and avoid using it to water the plants in their gardens. The NWSDB Deputy General Manager Ajith Perera said due to the dry and arid weather conditions the board was unable to maintain the water pressure in pipe lines.
He said houses in elevated areas would have a drop of pressure in water or would not receive water.
“Even though there will be no disruption to the water supply, the increased demand will become an issue. Therefore we call on the people to use water sparingly,” he said.