Drought hits Dry Zone Hard

A young girl carries a pot of water on her hip while holding a young child by the hand at Namalpokuna in Dimbulagala. Pic by Samantha Perera

By Kelum Bandara

The prolonged dry spell in certain areas of Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Matale, Batticaloa, Ampara and Moneragala Districts has made it difficult for people to get drinking water in their areas, villagers said.

In areas such as Aralaganvila and Dimbulagala, there are villages where people flock at a well during the wee hours of day to draw water. Villagers of Namalpokuna, Dimbulagala said that there were only a few wells in the area, and the water level had dropped drastically due to the dry weather.

“We gather at the well around 5.00 am and sometimes wait till 7.00 am. There are long queues. The wells are soon emptied after just a few people have drawn water. After that we have to wait till the wells refill, ” a villager said peering into the depths of the well.

Also, villagers have to trudge a few kilometres to reach Dalukana tank to bathe.

The problem is more acute in areas where there are no irrigation facilities. However, even in major irrigation schemes, the supply of running water is restricted to a few hours a day.

The water level has dropped to low levels in the major tanks in the district such as Minneriya and Giritale. The delay of the monsoonal rains is likely to have an adverse impact on cultivations in the 2011/2012 Maha season.

S. Hettiarachchi, the president of the Farmers Organisation in Raja-Ela, Jayanthipura said that his area is provided with drinking water from Minneriya Tank, but the supply is restricted to the hours of 9.00 am to 5.00pm.

“They have not de-silted the tank for many years. Therefore, it cannot hold much water. In January, we were hit by two massive floods. But, today, drinking water is a problem,” he said.

http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/front-image/57910.html