News
Shortage of chlorine hampers cleansing of water sources in flood-hit areas
By Rathindra Kuruwita
There is a severe shortage of chlorine in the country and this can pose a lot of problems for grassroots health officials, government servants and people who have to cleanse water sources like wells that were exposed to flood water, Upul Rohana, the head of the Public Health Inspectors Union told The Island.
“We urge health officials to do something about this soon,” he said.
Rohana said people must be more vigilant and prevent the rapid spread of communicable diseases following the floods.
“We usually see a rapid spread of various ailments that are caused by consuming contaminated food and water as well as rat fever following floods. Rat fever is usually caused by travelling through or playing in contaminated flood water. Please avoid these practices,” he said.
Rohana said that people must not consume any produce that was exposed to flood water without washing and cooking them properly. “It’s best if you don’t eat such food at all. If your house or well was flooded, please cleanse them. You need chlorine to clean wells,” he said.
Floods in all parts of the country are receding, the irrigation department said on Wednesday (05).
The water levels of most rivers have dropped noticeably, the department said.
“We are expecting the rains to reduce in the coming days. However, the lowlands remain submerged,” Ajith Wijemanna, Deputy Director at the Department of Meteorology said.
Meanwhile, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said that 247,406 people in 13 districts had been affected by the floods as at 6 am on Wednesday.
The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) on Friday said the largest groundwater source discovered in Sri Lanka so far had been identified during tube-well drilling near the Pitabeddara Police Station.
Indrajith Gamage, geologist in charge of the Southern Province, said the source recorded a continuous flow of about 10,000 litres (10 cubic metres) per minute, marking the first instance in the country where a groundwater source of that magnitude had been found.
He noted that the previous largest groundwater source was discovered in the Madhu area, which recorded a flow of about 7,000 litres per minute.
According to the NWSDB, the tube well was drilled following geological studies of rock layers and the identification of underground water through fractures in rock strata using specialised technical instruments.
The Board said steps would be taken to distribute water from the newly discovered source to residents facing shortages in Pitabeddara, Morawaka and surrounding areas.
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has formally handed over its historical records to the National Archives Department, entrusting over a century of the nation’s commercial history to the country’s official custodians of heritage.
The archive, spanning from the CCC’s founding in 1839 to 1973, includes correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, ledgers, and publications that chronicle the development of trade, enterprise, and industry in Sri Lanka. Together, the records provide a rare and detailed account of the island’s economic evolution and the role of its business community in shaping national progress.
The Ministry of Defence said on Friday (13) that arrangements had been made to repatriate to Iran the bodies of 84 sailors who died aboard the IRIS Dena, which sank in the southern seas off Sri Lanka.
A special aircraft carrying the bodies departed from Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport on Friday, the Ministry said, adding that the repatriation was carried out in coordination with the Embassy of Iran in Sri Lanka.
The remains had been kept in two mobile cold-storage units at the Galle National Hospital before being transported to Mattala by lorry following a court order. Forty-five bodies were moved in the morning, while the remaining 39 were transported later in the day.
Earlier this month, the Iranian naval vessel suffered an incident about 40 nautical miles off Port of Galle while carrying around 180 personnel. Thirty-five rescued sailors were admitted to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital, while 84 bodies were subsequently recovered.
Following the incident, Pete Hegseth confirmed that the Iranian vessel had been sunk in international waters by a torpedo fired from a submarine of the United States Navy.
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