Numerous water sources across the Udadumbara area of the Kandy District have dried up under the severe impact of the El Niño weather pattern, residents say, according to Hiru News.
The Ellegala waterfall at Thalagune in Udadumbara has dried up completely, with not a single drop of water remaining.
The falls are known locally for an unusual effect in which the water appears to flow upwards when the wind is strong enough to carry the spray back over the lip of the rock.
Residents said the waterfall does not normally run dry at this time of year, and attributed the situation directly to the intensity of the current dry spell. They said the loss of water sources has disrupted both drinking water access and agriculture in the area.
Part of a widening drought
The report adds a local marker to a drought the Department of Meteorology has warned could be the strongest El Niño event in 75 years. As of 12 September, more than 160,000 people were recorded as affected, with over 78,000 described as having lost livelihoods — see Met Department says El Niño may be strongest in 75 years.
National reservoir storage has been running well below normal, and the Agriculture Ministry has moved to short-duration paddy varieties ahead of the Maha season in response to the outlook.
The picture is not uniform across the country. The Met Department has forecast rainfall above 100mm in five provinces — including the Central Province, in which Udadumbara lies — as reported in Met Department forecasts rainfall above 100mm in five provinces. Whether that rain reaches the Udadumbara catchment, and whether it is enough to restore the springs and streams residents rely on, is not addressed in either report.
Not reported
Hiru does not say how many households in Udadumbara have lost their drinking water supply, whether the National Water Supply and Drainage Board or the Disaster Management Centre is delivering bowser water to the area, or how much farmland has been affected.
No official from the Met Department, the Irrigation Department or the Kandy district administration is quoted; the account rests entirely on residents. The report gives no measurement of how far local rainfall has fallen below average, and does not say when the waterfall last ran dry, if ever.
