The government of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have struggled every year since coming to power to halt the destruction from regular, seasonal floods in the capital Colombo and across the island, despite their ambitions to turn heavily-indebted Sri Lanka into South Asias financial hub. The Sri Lankan capital has been lashed by heavy rains causing major traffic jams throughout the city.
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Over 200,000 people have been affected by torrential rains and flash floods that have wreaked havoc in Sri Lanka, killing eight people with nine others still missing, officials said today. But it did not reflect three further deaths in a landslide in the central district of Kandy, the DMC spokesman added.
Over 47,000 families were affected in the island with Western Province has been reported as the worst affecting area with over 178,000 people affected by flooding, Disaster Management Center said.
According to the DMC report released on as of 12 noon Monday (16) three people are still missing.
Meanwhile, troops have been sent to Diyawanna Oya area as the rising water levels threatened to inundate the Parliament complex. As many as eight districts have been issued landslide warnings.
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The Meteorology Department said that heavy rain and strong winds would continue in many parts of the island country. Military personnel have been deployed to evacuate people living on slopes or in flood-hit areas.
