Thirty-eight schools across four provinces did not open on Monday because of the weather, and the Irrigation Department has issued a minor flood warning for the Kuda Ganga — the first formal flood warning of this spell, alongside the Level 3 Red landslide warnings now covering six districts.
Where the schools closed
Thirty-five of the 38 closures are in the Central Province, with one school each in Sabaragamuwa, the Southern Province and the Western Province, the Education Ministry told Daily Mirror. The figure was current as of 9.00 a.m.
The Central Province concentration has an explanation the ministry statement does not give. Central Province Governor Dr. Suranga Fernando has devolved the decision to Zonal Education Directors, who are to decide in consultation with principals whether schools open at all, NewsFirst reported. Several schools in the Denuwara, Gampola and Katugastota education zones were closed on that authority.
This is the same delegation chain seen last week: the ministry instructs provincial authorities, who pass the call down to zonal directors and principals. It means no single national list of closed schools exists — the 38 is a count reported upward, not a roster.
The Kuda Ganga crosses its threshold
Water at the Kalawellawa (Millakanda) gauging station on the Kuda Ganga reached 6.59 metres by 6.30 a.m., above the 6.50 m minor flood level, the Irrigation Department said via Daily Mirror.
Alert levels were recorded at several other stations: Hanwella on the Kelani, Ratnapura and Magura on the Kalu, Baddegama and Thawalama on the Gin, Thalgahagoda and Panadugama on the Nilwala, and Dunamale on the Attanagalu Oya.
That last entry closes an open question. The Attanagalu Oya was flagged last week as a basin of particular concern carrying no formal warning; it now appears on the department’s alert list.
Levels were still rising at Baddegama and Thalgahagoda, while several other stations were gradually falling.
Two rainfall figures, two windows
The two readings circulating on Monday are not in conflict — they measure different periods, and both matter.
- 24 hours to 6.00 a.m.: Nawalapitiya 93.9 mm, Kithulgala 91.1 mm, Giriulla 79.3 mm, Deraniyagala 77.9 mm, Magura 74.2 mm (Irrigation Department, via Daily Mirror).
- Ten hours to 7.00 a.m.: Maliboda 104 mm — the island’s highest — with Kalupahana 95.5 mm and Maskeliya 85.5 mm, Hiru News reported.
Maliboda and Kalupahana are both in Kegalle district, and Maskeliya is in Nuwara Eliya — the two districts already carrying the heaviest concentration of Red landslide divisions. Maliboda’s 104 mm fell in ten hours, not twenty-four, which is the sharper number of the two.
Hiru places Maliboda in Kegalle. The queue note circulating with this story placed it in Galle; Kegalle is correct and is consistent with the Kegalle rainfall recorded through the weekend.
The Department of Meteorology expects around 100 mm more in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North Western provinces and in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Galle and Matara districts.
Not reported
Neither outlet names the 38 schools, says whether closures extend to Tuesday, or gives a figure for pupils affected. The Irrigation Department does not say how many people live along the Kuda Ganga below Kalawellawa, whether any evacuation has been ordered, or when the minor flood warning expires. No outlet connects the closures to the Red landslide divisions — several of which lie inside the Denuwara and Gampola zones.
