The Kalu Ganga has risen to minor flood level at the Millakanda gauging station and is approaching danger thresholds at Ellagawa and Putupawula, the Disaster Management Centre said on Friday, as the southwest monsoon continued to push water through the upper catchment.
Several houses in the Ingiriya Nambapana area have been inundated, the Kalutara District Disaster Management Centre confirmed. The Department of Irrigation extended its minor flood warning for the Kalu River basin by another 24 hours from midday on Saturday, citing sustained rainfall in upper catchment areas.
Residents in low-lying areas of the divisional secretariat divisions of Ingiriya, Horana, Dodangoda, Millaniya, Kalutara, Bulathsinhala, Madurawala and Palindanuwara have been advised to remain on alert. Motorists travelling through these areas were urged to exercise caution.
The Attanagalu Oya remains at minor flood level at Dunamale but is gradually receding, the Gampaha District Disaster Management Centre said. The Kelani River at Nagalagam Street, which had drawn earlier warnings, is also subsiding, the Department of Irrigation confirmed.
Kalutara becomes the second major basin to reach flood thresholds this week after the Attanagalu Oya breach that collapsed a section of the Mellawagedara temporary bridge on the Negombo–Kotadeniyawa road on Friday. The Disaster Management Centre confirmed the first monsoon fatality of the season earlier in the day, with NBRO Red Level-3 landslide warnings active for four divisional secretariats in Kegalle and Ratnapura.
The Kalu Ganga warning builds on rainfall alerts that have escalated since Friday, when upper-catchment stations recorded the highest 24-hour totals of the cycle, with Pambegama logging 336.5mm.
