President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed officials to prepare water restrictions and support programmes in advance of the dry conditions expected from El Niño, rather than waiting for reservoirs to run down first.
He was chairing a meeting of the Special Cabinet Sub-Committee and Officials’ Committee appointed to address the impacts of the climate phenomenon, held Friday morning at the Presidential Secretariat, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.
February to April flagged as the pressure point
The Department of Meteorology forecasts that severe dry weather will affect the entire country again during February, March and April next year. The meeting reviewed the potential impact on agriculture, plantations, freshwater fisheries, water supply and electricity generation, along with the plans drawn up for each.
Dissanayake emphasised the need to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential goods and services throughout the affected period, and told officials to design support programmes — coordinated with disaster management authorities — that run until affected livelihoods and economic activity recover.
Plan before the taps run dry
On rationing, the President was specific: if water restrictions become necessary, officials should not wait until reservoirs are completely depleted, but engage affected communities and set up an orderly programme in advance.
He called for a comprehensive database showing what proportion of consumers is served by major reservoirs, minor irrigation schemes and small tanks, and for areas most vulnerable to prolonged dry conditions to be identified ahead of time. Areas where tanks, rivers and streams are likely to dry up completely should be mapped for risk, he said, noting that people living there would need water for daily needs beyond drinking.
The meeting also discussed authorising Divisional Secretaries to arrange cleaning and rehabilitation of water sources that have become unusable.
October rains and the Maha season
With the first rains expected in October, the PMD said preparations are planned around using rainwater to prepare agricultural land rather than waiting for reservoir releases. The President stressed that the Irrigation Department and the Mahaweli Authority must work to a coordinated plan, and called for irrigation rehabilitation to be expedited so maximum storage can be captured from the October rainfall.
Arrangements for seed paddy and fertiliser for the coming Maha season were also reviewed, alongside the Rs. 7.5 billion Parliament approved on Friday for Yala paddy purchases.
Agriculture Ministry officials told the meeting that crop losses in the previous Yala season stayed relatively low thanks to advance preparation and timely cultivation.
Power reserve
On electricity, the meeting discussed maintaining a strategically planned reserve of generation capacity above normal requirements, to keep supply uninterrupted this year and to absorb energy risks from depleted reservoirs in the February–April window.
The review follows the UK Met Office forecast, reported this week, of the strongest El Niño in living memory.
