Water levels in several of Sri Lanka’s major reservoirs have fallen further under the prolonged dry spell, with Ethimale Wewa down to 5 per cent of capacity and Morawewa to 9 per cent, the Irrigation Department said on Friday.
Senanayake Samudraya, the country’s largest reservoir, stood at 18 per cent, Hiru News reported, citing the department. Weheragala was at 15 per cent, Kaudulla at 20 per cent, Padaviya at 22 per cent, Huruluwewa at 24 per cent and Thabbowa at 28 per cent.
Kantale Reservoir in Trincomalee district has dropped to 30.2 per cent, Irrigation Engineer S. A. D. Wasantha Kumara told NewsFirst. Catchment areas feeding the tank have dried out and the natural streams supplying it have virtually stopped flowing. Kantale supplies drinking water to Kantale, Thambalagamuwa, Trincomalee, Kinniya and Muttur, and a further decline would put those supplies at risk.
Monaragala carries two in five of those affected
The Disaster Management Centre counts 84,545 people affected by El Niño-linked dry weather across seven districts, NewsFirst reported. Monaragala remains the worst hit with 35,639 people — 42 per cent of the national total — followed by Batticaloa on 28,523 and Ampara on 8,847.
Divisional secretariat divisions in Badulla, Polonnaruwa, Hambantota and Ratnapura make up the balance, with residents there reporting worsening water shortages. Emergency drinking water has reached 75,734 people, or roughly nine in ten of those counted as affected.
Both figures have moved since the DMC’s August 21 release of 81,765 people: the headcount is up by about 2,800, Monaragala’s share has risen from 33,023, and water distribution has widened from 72,053 people.
Note on the totals: the DMC figure was reported as 84,546 by the Daily Mirror on the same day and as 84,545 by NewsFirst. The one-person difference is not explained by either outlet.
Small tanks in Anuradhapura are drying out
The dry zone’s smaller tanks are further gone than the major reservoirs. Water levels are falling rapidly at Doramadalawa Wewa, Ukkulankulam Upper Tank and Pudukkulam Wewa in Anuradhapura district.
In the Vilachchiya area, Kuda Oyamaduwa Wewa and Maningamuwa Wewa, along with several smaller tanks, have either dried up completely or reached critically low levels. Cattle are being driven long distances in search of water, and dairy farmers say conditions are becoming difficult to sustain.
That divergence between range aggregates and individual tanks has run through this dry spell: the national reservoir figure stood at about 36 per cent in late August even as tanks inside the worst-hit ranges fell into single digits.
Heat advisory holds
The Department of Meteorology said the heat felt on the human body will reach 39 to 45 degrees Celsius on Friday in the Eastern Province and in Polonnaruwa, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Monaragala districts — the “Caution” band on the heat index.
The advisory covers the same districts as Thursday’s warning, and coincides with the start of the sun’s southward zenith passage over the island, which began over the Jaffna peninsula on Friday and reaches the southern tip on 7 September.
