The Cabinet has approved the appointment of Engineer P.M. Jayadeera as Director General of Irrigation with effect from 6 October 2026.
Jayadeera currently serves as Additional Secretary (Water Resources Development) at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation, and holds a Special Grade post in the Sri Lanka Engineering Service. The appointment came on a proposal submitted by the subject minister, Daily Mirror reported.
The post falls vacant the same day. The incumbent Director General, Dr. (Eng.) K. Weligepolage, retires from public service on 6 October on reaching the compulsory retirement age — so the handover is a scheduled succession rather than a mid-term replacement, and leaves no gap at the top of the department.
Why the timing matters
The Irrigation Department is not a back-office agency this month. It is the body that issues Sri Lanka’s river-basin flood warnings, and it has been in near-continuous operation through the current wet spell — including the alerts issued for the Kuda Ganga basin that closed 38 schools and the warnings covering the Attanagalu Oya system.
It also manages the reservoir network that carries the country through the dry season, and the incoming Director General inherits that portfolio at the start of the Maha cultivation cycle, with roughly 80,000 hectares of farmland already reported damaged by adverse weather this year.
Not stated
The Cabinet decision as reported gives no term length for the appointment and no detail of Jayadeera’s service record, previous postings or technical specialism. There is no figure for how long he has held the Additional Secretary post.
Neither the outgoing nor the incoming Director General is quoted, and the report carries no statement from the Ministry on priorities for the department. No verified newsroom other than Daily Mirror carried the appointment.
