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| Saturday, 18 September 2004 |
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Colombo East Group Corr. The Minister of Urban Development and Water Supply, Dinesh Gunawardena summoned the Ministry officials to his Battaramulla office last Friday and instructed them to adopt suitable measures to prevent possible floods in several parts of the city and its outskirts with the arrival of heavy rains due in a few weeks. Floods in and around the city of Colombo have been a common feature in the past years during the rainy period. Such flooding has hampered human and development activities to considerable disadvantage, emphasised the Minister. These perennial floods have been caused due to the filling up of small wetlands that were located within the city and outside to erect dwellings and office buildings. Earlier when it rained the water drained into these wetlands without causing any floods. Now there are hardly any low lands to which the rain water can drain into. Besides whatever drainage outlets available have been blocked by careless human activity. The Minister reminded that even the Parliament premises were flooded by the accumulated rain water in 1992. A more serious flood situation is likely in the expected rainy period since the low lying areas around the Diyavanna Oya and parts of Battaramulla have been reclaimed and buildings erected. Some areas of Colombo North, Colombo Central, Borella, Maradana, Narahenpita, Ratmalana, Boralesgamuwa, Kotte, Maharagama are annually affected by floods during the rainy season. This situation is caused mainly by careless human activity rather than natural causes. However blaming anybody is not a solution to the problem. His Ministry has to consider the matter seriously and adopt suitable, practical preventive measures. It is essential to strictly adhere to a workable flood prevention plan, he said. |
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