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Colombo’s flood woes irk residents, visitors

COLOMBO: Torrential rains that lashed several parts of the country for two days heavily affected ratepayers, residents, schoolchildren and office workers in Colombo.

The Daily News spoke to several visitors and residents in the city to gauge their reactions to the floods that caused mayhem over two days.

The herbal porridge outlet owner at Lotus Road, P.J.R. Gunathilake said there were five gullies along the road but only one was in working order.

No workers have been mobilised by the Colombo Municipal Council to repair them. This is the worst flood situation that he experienced in the City in the last 30 years, he recalled.

H.C.S. Perera, a camera shop owner at Prince Street said the city’s gully network was not capable of handling the heavy intake of storm water. The limited number of gullies and the lack of supervision on their cleaning caused the unexpected floods.

“The CMC should study the reasons carefully and think about new measures to overcome the problem,” he stressed.

Three wheeler driver Wedage Lalith Pushpa Kumara of First Cross Street Junction said the ad-hoc disposal of waste such as Polythene by pavement vendors caused the flood problem in the City. Some workmen remove the gully caps to sell them to foundries, he added.

A dual Sri Lankan-German citizen M. Jeffrey expressing his ideas to the Daily News said the CMC should have proper country planners.

Many officers who return to the country with modern technical knowledge on country planning are not applying their knowledge practically for city development.

Some local bodies nominate politically influential people, most probably administrators for such study programmes, he said.

“We must learn a lesson from these mistakes. Otherwise no development can be achieved,” he added.

J.A.P. Chandrasiri, a Government servant who travels daily from Veyangoda to Colombo criticised the CMC for its weak administration and the wastage of public funds.

CMC Opposition Leader Vasudeva Nanayakkara said the floods in Colombo should be considered a real disaster.

“The CMC cannot be solely responsible for the situation,” he said. “The main drain channels of the Colombo city should be cleared mechanically on a large scale with the assistance of the Land Reclamation and Development Corporation. No measures could be initiated by the CMC unless the main channels are drained.”

Deputy Mayor S. Rajendran said that some complaints about the removal of gully caps have been made to the CMC by ratepayers and corrective measures has been taken by the CMC with police assistance. Pictures by Mahinda Vitanachchci

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Flood relief hotlines

COLOMBO: The Government yesterday announced several hotlines which can be contacted 24 hours a day by those facing difficulties as a result of heavy rains, floods and landslides.

Disaster Management Centre:

Emergency Calls - 2670002,

Other Numbers - 2670071

Ext. 231, 232

Fax - 2670079

Deputy Director - 072-3574357

Disaster Relief Services

Ministry: Disaster relief centre - 2431590, 2431579

Secretary to the Ministry - 077- 3292630

These hotlines have been initiated on the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who has focused attention on the difficulties faced by the public due to the prevailing harsh weather conditions.

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