Sri Lanka Army Assists Flood Victims
More than 7000 Army personnel have now been deployed in flood-affected areas in the Wanni, Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa districts for rescue and relief operations on the directions of the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake.
With the coordination of District Secretariats, Navy, Air Force, Police and the Disaster Management Centre, Major General Boniface Perera, Commander, Security Force Headquarters - Wanni (SFHQ-W) has launched an emergency contingency plan for rescue and relief operations in the Wanni and Anuradhapura districts.
Providing 8000 packed meals to the victims with the support of philanthropists, Anuradhapura-based 21 Division Headquarters of the SFHQ-W quickly responded to the emergency and rescued civilians of 592 families in their areas of responsibility before relocating them in temporary shelters.
Civilians in Naachchaduwa, Thirappane, Rambewa, Tambuttegama, Galenbindunuwewa, Nochchiyagama, Kahatagasdigiliya, Rajanganaya, Thalawa and Palugaswewa areas remain the worst affected in the Wanni and the Anuradhapura District.
Army relief teams around the same time had to rush to the Anuradhapura prison building, submerged in flood water and rescued 1100 detainees who were afterwards relocated in other peripheral prisons elsewhere in coordination with prison authorities as alternative measures.
More than 30 Army personnel meanwhile restored the bund of the Palispathana Lake in Kahatagasdigiliya immediately when a patch of about 20 ft in length was threatened with imminent burst on Saturday (20), thus preventing a major disaster.
Similarly, more than 70 resident patients in the flood-affected Anuradhapura Army Base Hospital were immediately evacuated to peripheral medical centres since the Hospital premises, came under gushing water by Friday (19) early morning.
Army relief teams in the meantime managed to rescue 4 foreigners, stranded while on tour in Anuradhapura area on Saturday (20). Three teams of divers of the Special Forces, together with three boats are now in flood-hit areas in search of any remaining victims who would have been stranded.
Meanwhile, troops of the 54 Division based in Mannar rushed to flood-affected Panniwettuwan and Emilnagar areas and provided relief to more than 395 victims of 106 families after shifting all of them to 5 relief centres in the Mannar District.
Likewise, a similar rescue and relief operation is in progress in the East under the supervision of Major General Lal Perera, Commander, Security Force Headquarters - East (SFHQ-E) after reports confirmed the damages, being caused by ravaging floods in Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa districts in the past three days.
3026 civilians of 641 families in Trincomalee, 7108 civilians of 1887 families in Polonnaruwa and a total of 10146 civilians of Batticaloa District have been now evacuated and subsequently relocated in 10 relief centres in Trincomalee, 21 relief centres in Polonnaruwa and 34 relief centres in Batticaloa with the assistance of District Secretariats and Disaster Management Centre.
In the Eastern theatre of emergency operations, nearly 4000 Army officers and soldiers, Navy officers, together with 9 sailors and 4 airmen are working round the clock with the support of other agencies and more than 13 boats, belonging to the Navy. During past two days, the Army provided more than 15,000 cooked meal packets to the affected, housed in temporary places (Ends)
