20 feared buried in earthslip

Rajmi Manatunga, Mohammed Naalir, Asela Kuruluwansha and Indika Polkotuwa

COLOMBO: At least 20 persons were feared dead when their vehicles were caught in a massive earthslip in Pussellawa on Sunday night.

Police and rescuers have recovered four bodies together with two cabs, two vans and a lorry from the debris. Police say that at least 20 others are trapped under the huge earth mound which fell on the five vehicles while plying on the Gampola-Nuwara-Eliya road in Pussellawa.

Earthslips and floods triggered by heavy monsoonal rains in the past few days have also displaced around 300 families in several parts of the country.

Among the dead is the Deputy Post Master of the Central Province. A special police team has been deployed to clear the debris and recover the remaining bodies.

Disaster Management Centre Director General Gamini Hettiarachchi said that 300 families in Puttalam and a few other districts have also been affected by floods and landslides.

Twenty five families in Godakanda in the Ratnapura district and 15 families in the Balangoda area have been evacuated since the areas are vulnerable to earthslips.

"It is not a severe flood situation. But we have already allocated funds and directed the district and divisional secretaries to provide relief to the affected people," he said.

A flood and landslide threat has arisen in several parts of the country as heavy inter monsoon rains continued to lash a number of areas including the Badulla, Kurunegala and Hambantota districts.

Train operations on the Colombo-Badulla Main railway line have been restricted to Hatton owing to several earthslips along the line.

"There have been obstructions at three places between Hatton-Kotagala, Demodara-Hali-ela and Ella-Heeloya due to earthslips," the Railway Main Control Room said.

According to the Irrigation Department, many reservoirs in the Ampara, Badulla, Hambantota, Kurunegala, Moneragala and Puttalam districts had started to spill over by yesterday while the water level of the Kelani ganga had also increased, causing the risk of a mild flood.

Among the reservoirs which had started to spill over are the Rajangana tank in Ampara, Kande-Ela, Mapakada and Sorabora Wewa in the Badulla district, Debarawewa, Mavuara, Ridiyagama and Weerawila reservoirs in the Hambantota district and the Atharagallewa, Bathalegoda and Palukadawala tanks in the Kurunegala district.

"The Handapanagala reservoir in Moneragala and the Thabbowa tank in Puttalam had also started to spill yesterday while the Hakwatuna, Kimbulwana, Magalle and Inginimitiya reservoirs and the Tissa wewa have reached spill level," a Department spokesman said. Meanwhile, the Meteorological Department predicted that the rainy weather will continue till December with normal and heavy rains during this period.

Rainy conditions will prevail in the central hill country and other parts of Sri Lanka.

"The special feature of this inter monsoon season is the occurrence of thunder and lightning in the evenings.

Sometimes, it may rain heavily while mild disturbances could also develop", Meteorological Department Deputy Director S. H. Kariyawasam told the Daily News.