The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the allocation of Rs. 232.07 million to renovate a further 144 religious sites damaged in the disasters caused by Cyclone Ditwah, the Daily Mirror reported on Tuesday.
The decision extends a restoration programme that has been running in stages since April, and was approved on a proposal submitted by the Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs.
Scale of the damage
According to government figures cited in the report, places of worship across all four major faiths were affected by the disasters:
- 758 Buddhist temples
- 272 Hindu religious places
- 199 Muslim religious places
- 99 Christian religious places
Those figures total 1,328 damaged sites, meaning the work funded so far still covers well under half of the affected locations.
Work already under way
Renovation has already begun at 256 of the affected sites, drawing on Rs. 929.69 million channelled through the Buddha Sasana Fund, the Central Cultural Fund and the Anagarika Dharmapala Foundation.
Of that sum, Rs. 329.62 million was released under Cabinet decisions taken on April 27 and June 15, 2026. The first of those decisions came as part of a twin housing and religious-site relief package for cyclone survivors; the second cleared Rs. 129.69 million for 90 further places of worship.
With Tuesday’s allocation added, the programme now covers 400 sites and roughly Rs. 1.16 billion in committed funding.
Cyclone Ditwah made landfall in November 2025, killing 646 people, displacing 2.2 million and causing an estimated USD 4.1 billion in damage. Recovery spending continues to be released in instalments rather than as a single package, with each tranche requiring separate Cabinet approval.
Source: Daily Mirror.
