The Polgolla Reservoir will be emptied for about two and a half days from midnight on 25 September to allow urgent repairs to its gates, the Water Management Secretariat said on Wednesday.

Director of the Water Management Secretariat, Engineer Nilantha Dhanapala, said the reservoir would remain empty until around 6 p.m. on 27 September, the Daily Mirror reported.

Dhanapala urged residents of Polgolla and Balagolla, who depend on the reservoir for their water supply, to use water sparingly during the shutdown.

Kotmale generation stops inside the same window

Power generation at the Kotmale Hydropower Plant will be suspended from 10 p.m. on 26 September until 2 p.m. on 27 September for maintenance, Dhanapala said in a second announcement the same day.

The two operations are linked. Dhanapala described the Kotmale suspension as running “in parallel” with the Polgolla work — the 16-hour generation halt falls entirely inside the longer period during which Polgolla is drawn down. Polgolla diverts Mahaweli water northward through the Ukuwela and Bowatenna system, and Kotmale sits upstream on the same river.

The reporting does not state whether the Kotmale stoppage is required by the Polgolla drawdown or is simply scheduled to coincide with it.

Announced at an El Niño briefing

Both announcements were made at a media briefing on Wednesday on the possible impact of El Niño on Sri Lanka — the same briefing at which officials set out the ten-day rainfall outlook.

The scheduling of reservoir maintenance during a period of forecast rainfall is not addressed in either report.

Not reported

Neither report says what is wrong with the Polgolla gates, how long the fault has been known, or what the repairs will cost. Neither gives the megawatt capacity affected at Kotmale, says how the shortfall will be covered on the national grid, or indicates whether the Ceylon Electricity Board expects any interruption to supply. No alternative water arrangements are described for Polgolla and Balagolla residents, and no downstream irrigation impact is quantified.

Neither the CEB nor the Mahaweli Authority has issued a statement of its own; both announcements come from the Water Management Secretariat.