Two spill gates at the Polgolla Mahaweli Dam were opened by two feet each on Sunday (2) to manage the risk of flooding caused by heavy rain across several districts, the Office of the Engineer-in-Charge of the dam said.
A volume of 3,940 cubic feet of water per second is being released into the Victoria Reservoir as a result, the Engineer-in-Charge’s Office stated.
Authorities urged residents living downstream along the Mahaweli River, and in low-lying areas around the Victoria Reservoir, to stay alert and take safety precautions if necessary.
Part of a continuing wet spell
The release follows a weekend of sustained rain over the central hills. On Saturday the Mahaweli burst its banks at Peradeniya and Nawalapitiya, submerging a bridge repair site and flooding sixteen houses whose residents were moved to safety.
The Met Department’s forecast for Sunday puts fairly heavy rainfall of about 50 mm at some places in the Sabaragamuwa province and the Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Kalutara, Galle and Matara districts. That is half the threshold of the Amber advisory that covered broadly the same area on Saturday, which lapsed at 6.00 a.m. on Sunday.
The Irrigation Department has separately maintained a minor flood warning for low-lying areas of the Kelani River valley, where spill gates at the Canyon Reservoir were also opened.
Polgolla is a diversion barrage on the Mahaweli upstream of Kandy. Water released through its spill gates flows on into the Victoria Reservoir, the largest in the Mahaweli scheme, which regulates the river below it.
