The government has allocated Rs. 550 million to restore six shrines of archaeological value destroyed by Cyclone Ditwah, with work due to start this month, the Secretary to the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs said on Friday.
Secretary W.P. Senadheera told NewsFirst that the six restoration projects will be carried out by the Central Cultural Fund. He said Rs. 40 million has already been released for the restoration of 58 other shrines damaged by the November 2025 cyclone, and another Rs. 200 million will be released soon for a further 201 shrines — bringing the total programme to 265 sites.
Reconstruction of the Elahera Anicut, also damaged by the cyclone, is set to begin on May 10. Acting Director General of Archaeology Senarath Wickramasinghe said the anicut repairs will be conducted by Irrigation Department engineers under the supervision of the Department of Archaeology.
The announcement is the first detailed funding breakdown for the cyclone’s hit on Sri Lanka’s heritage sector, after Cabinet earlier approved housing and religious-site restoration in parallel. Cyclone Ditwah killed 646 people, displaced 2.2 million and caused USD 4.1 billion in damage when it made landfall in November 2025, hitting temples, kovils, churches, mosques and ancient monuments across the upcountry and Northern districts.
The heritage allocation runs alongside the President’s end-May deadline for Rs. 500,000 partial-damage compensation payments and the Army’s 1,000 interim shelters programme.
Source: NewsFirst.
