The spill gates of the Kotmale Reservoir were due to be reopened at about 7.00 a.m. on Wednesday (5), the Irrigation Department said in its latest update, bringing the operation forward by an hour from the time first announced.
Ada Derana had earlier reported, citing the Irrigation Engineer in charge of the reservoir, that the gates would open at around 8.00 a.m. The department’s revised notice moved that to 7.00 a.m.
The release will discharge approximately 130 cubic feet of water per second into the Mahaweli River, according to the Disaster Management Centre.
Residents living in low-lying land along the Mahaweli at Ulapane, Gelioya, Gampola, Peradeniya and Katugastota have been advised to remain vigilant and take precautions against the increased flow.
A second release in three days
Wednesday’s operation is the second at the reservoir this week. The Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority began opening the same gates and the silt sluice on Monday afternoon as heavy rain accumulated over the upper catchment, a far larger release that was followed by flooding in villages around Gampola and the displacement of about 500 families.
Outlets reported Monday’s discharge figure in differing units, so the two releases are not directly comparable on the published numbers alone. The stretch of river placed on alert is, however, materially shorter this time: Monday’s notice ran from Nugawela and Mawathura on the Kotmale Oya down through Weligalla to Polgolla, while Wednesday’s names five towns.
Warnings still in force
The release comes while the Irrigation Department’s Red major-flood alert for ten divisions of the Kandy district is still running. That emergency notice, issued at 1.00 p.m. on Monday for 48 hours, expires at 1.00 p.m. on Wednesday — hours after the gates open.
The Disaster Management Centre’s most recent situation report put the death toll from the current spell at eight, with 11,832 people from 3,014 families affected across nine districts and 3,538 sheltering in 51 safe centres.
The Met Department expects falls above 75 mm at some places in Sabaragamuwa and the Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts on Wednesday — the catchments that feed the reservoir.
