The Situation Report issued by the Disaster Management Center [DMC] at 2000hrs on Saturday [06] confirms that 607 persons have died due to the recent flooding and landslides while another 209 persons were missing.

The death toll in the Kandy district which one of the most affected districts has risen to 232, and 1800 houses have  been fully damaged.The number of missing persons reported is 81

100,124 persons belonging to 29,874 families were being housed at  990 safety centers established by the government.

The government’s failure to act on expert warnings, including advance forecasts on Cyclone Ditwah, had led to the worsening of disaster impact, Udaya Gammanpila, leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya, said at a press conference in Colombo yesterday.

Gammanpila accused the NPP government of ignoring 14 key preventive measures, despite alerts from the Meteorology Department, foreign experts, and the media.

Gammanpila said the government had failed to lower the water levels in reservoirs, dredge estuaries, and deploy the armed forces for canal maintenance. Local government bodies were reportedly sidelined, and that led to a delay in cleaning of drains. He said the government had also failed to evacuate people in a timely manner from seven districts identified by the National Building Research Organisation as landslide-prone. It had delayed declaring emergencies or curfews and the deployment of tri-forces to evacuate people in such areas.

Gammanpila said an experienced public official should have been appointed as Secretary to the President to mobilise the state machinery swiftly during the disaster. He said the government had not convened the National Disaster Council.

“These failures worsened the disaster, causing immense hardship, disruption, and loss of life and property to the people,” Gammanpila said.

The government has denied the Opposition’s claims.

The Department of National Archives Friday made an urgent appeal for freezing capacity to protect from mould vital water damaged documents, particularly irreplaceable public records of legal value saying this would be be time buying exercise before mould destroys them permanently.

Dr. Nadeera Rupesinghe, Director General of National Archives, said in the appeal that “freezing water-damaged documents stops mould growth and stabilizes materials until proper conservation treatment is possible. It buys time.

Without freezing capacity, we will lose vital records, land registries, court documents, historical records, and the evidence millions of citizens need to rebuild their lives.

“These public institutions urgently need access to freezer facilities and mobile freezers across the country. Public records as bound volumes, and bundled records have to be frozen in large quantities. We understand this is an extraordinary request during an already difficult time. We are asking you to provide space in existing freezer facilities on a temporary basis (weeks to months).”

She said if anybody able to provide such facilities without cost, in return, the National Archives can support full documentation of your contribution for CSR reporting and national recognition as a partner in preserving Sri Lanka’s evidentiary landscape.

“These are not abstract historical records. These are the records our citizens need to prove who they are, what they own, and what they are owed. What we stand to lose –

Court records and legal evidence spanning decades

Personnel files affecting pensions and benefits

Financial records required for audits and accountability

Public records essential for maintaining administrative history

Historical documents that tell our national story”

Noting that the business community has always been a partner in Sri Lanka’s development, the National Archives Department asked it to be partners in preserving the documentary foundation on which business, law, and civil society depend.

“Every land transaction, every contract, every court case relies on records. Help us save them,” Rupesinghe said.

If your organisation has freezing capacity you can make available, please immediately contact Mr Anuradha Adikaram, Senior Archivist on 077 6815551 (Available 24 hours) .

The department will coordinate connecting those who can assist with organisations that are searching for freezer facilities.

“Time is the enemy. Every hour without freezing capacity means more records lost to mould. Every day of delay means more families without proof of their homes, their citizenship, their rights. We are asking for freezers, but we are really asking you to help preserve the documentary infrastructure of our nation,” Rupesinghe said.