The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) has suspended water supply to several Colombo suburbs after an emergency breakage in the main transmission pipeline carrying water from Ambatale to Kolonnawa, with restoration expected by 8 pm on Friday (5 June).

Areas affected include Moragasmulla, Rajagiriya, Nawala, Obeysekarapura and the localities under the Kolonnawa Municipal Council, the Water Board said. Other neighbourhoods within the Kolonnawa Urban Council limits were warned to expect low water pressure during the same window, NewsFirst reported.

The Water Board said repair work on the damaged section had already begun and urged consumers in the affected districts to use water sparingly until the system is restored. No cause has been disclosed for the breakage; Ambatale is the principal treatment and transmission facility supplying water from the Kelani River to the eastern half of the Colombo metropolitan grid, and a rupture along the main Kolonnawa line affects tens of thousands of households downstream.

NewsFirst, which separately tracked the disruption under the headline “Water Supply Disrupted in Kolonnawa Due to Pipeline Leak”, said efforts were “underway to restore normal supply as soon as possible”. The Newswire report carrying NWSDB’s notification added that the interruption began earlier in the day before the formal suspension order was issued.

The disruption comes during a period of intermittent pressure on the Colombo water network, with a water cut in Mahara and Gampaha reported in late May and earlier short shutdowns in Kaduwela and several Colombo districts during seasonal repair work. The NWSDB has also been operating under tariff pressure, with the cabinet confirming in May that no across-the-board water tariff increase will take effect in the first half of 2026 even as a marginal rise tied to electricity-cost adjustments was approved earlier this month.

Update — June 5, 6 pm: The NWSDB said repair work on the Ambatale–Kolonnawa main had been completed and that supply to Moragasmulla, Rajagiriya, Nawala, Obeysekarapura and Kolonnawa had been fully restored by 6 pm — two hours earlier than the original 8 pm restoration window flagged that morning, Ada Derana reported.

Sources