Senanayake Samudra reaches spill level

By Wasantha Chandrapala, M.W. Somaratne and Saman Palitha Nanayakkara

For the frist time in about ten years, Senanayake Samudra in Inginiyagala reached spill level over  105ft last morning and it resulted in the opening of five spill gates to release excess water at a speed of 2750 cu.ft per second into Galoya river.   

Director of Irrigation, Ampara District Sudath Gamage said the capacity of the river stood at 662800 acre feet by last morning and it was little less than the normal capacity. He said several other tanks including Amparawewa, Kalugaloyawewa, Rambakenoyawewa, Koduwatuwanawewa and Tampitiyawewa were spilling over.   

Ampara District Secretary Chinthaka Abeywickrema said more than 10,000 acres of paddy land on the banks of Galoya river had gone under water due to the release of spill water.   
Police said Ampara-Inginiyagala road had gone under water at two locations due to the spillover of Kanduwatuwana tank.   

SP Ampara Division Nandana Jayapathma said the police life guard was on the alert to face any disastrous situation in case of a possible surge of floods.   
 In Matale District about 72 families had been evacuated from endangered areas and provided shelter last morning. Asst.Director of Disaster Management Centre Chaminda Amaraweera said several areas in the district were endangered due to the prevailing inclement weather. 

He said Head of the National Building and Research Organization Chaminda Moremada visited the endangered areas on inspection.   

Meanwhile heavy rainfall of more than 100mms had been experienced on Monday night (01) in Mahiyangana, Kandeketiya, Meegahakiula, Passara and Lunugala divisions in the eastern slopes of the Badulla District.   

A massive earth slip at Thandena on the Baddula–Mahiyangana main highway had made the road impassable. Road Development Authoriy was taking steps to clear the obstructions.   
District Secretary Prabhath Abeywardene instructed the relevant authorities to work out a plan to prevent any possible obstacles to the holding of the Advanced Level examination.