The University of Peradeniya has suspended all academic activities and examinations until further notice because of the weather, in a notice issued to students on Monday afternoon.
The administration said the decision was taken for the safety of students and staff, and confirmed that essential services on the campus will continue without interruption.
Students able to travel safely to their home towns have been permitted to leave. Those who cannot get home because of the conditions may stay in their hostels after informing hostel authorities — with the exception of occupants of the Sarasavi Medura Hostel. The university stressed that no student will be compelled to vacate hostel accommodation during this period.
Hostel authorities have also been instructed to take in students living in private boarding houses in unsafe areas who seek temporary shelter on campus, and to keep records of those admitted.
From advisory to shutdown in a morning
The suspension followed an earlier warning the same day. Vice Chancellor Professor Terrence Madhujith issued a special advisory on Monday morning urging students to stay on high alert as the Mahaweli River rose, and told those in hostels along the river basin to exercise extreme caution.
Continuous heavy rain overnight swelled the Mahaweli to the point that the bridge rehabilitation site near the Peradeniya Kalu Paalama was inundated, Ada Derana reported. Several pieces of heavy machinery at the site were submerged, and some equipment and construction materials were reportedly swept downstream.
That is the same structure — the Black Bridge, also called the Devil’s Bridge — that was damaged during Cyclone Ditwah and has been under repair since.
Kandy town and the railway station under water
Minor flooding has been reported in parts of Kandy town, and the Kandy Railway Station has been submerged. Authorities are monitoring conditions and have told residents in affected areas to stay alert.
The university sits within the area covered by the Irrigation Department’s Red major-flood alert for ten Divisional Secretariat divisions along the Mahaweli, which runs until 1.00 p.m. on Wednesday. Every government school in the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts is closed on Tuesday, and the Colombo–Kandy main road was shut at Kadugannawa because of the risk of rockfalls.
