Only 478 kilometers of Sri Lanka’s 1,593-kilometer railway network are currently usable following extensive damage caused by the recent cyclone, Commissioner-General of Essential Services B.K. Prabath Chandrakeerthi said Wednesday in a detailed situation update.
Chandrakeerthi said the cyclone had severely disrupted transport, agriculture, power supply and telecommunications across multiple districts.
The Ministry of Health has directed hospitals to reschedule clinic visits, treatment sessions and medical examinations missed by patients in affected areas, with priority to be given once conditions improve.
According to the statement, the Department of Agricultural Services has reported damage to 1,777 tanks, 483 dams, 1,936 canals and 328 agricultural roads. About 137,265 acres of farmland and 305 minor irrigation channels have also been destroyed.
The Road Development Authority has reopened 246 obstructed roads, but 22 bridges have been destroyed nationwide. The breakdown includes six in Uva Province, four each in the Northern and North-Western provinces, three in the Western Province, two each in the Central and Eastern provinces and one in the North-Central Province.
Telecommunication recovery stands at 91 percent, though restoration work in the Nuwara Eliya district remains ongoing.
Electricity supply has been restored to 2,526,264 consumers — 72 percent of the 3,531,841 connections affected — after 11,315 of 16,178 disrupted power substations were reactivated.
Dry food was airlifted today to residents in Aranayake, where road access remains cut off, and additional support was provided to medical teams in the area.
Technical experts from the Water Supply and Drainage Board, Water Resources Board, Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, Irrigation Department, Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau and the University of Peradeniya are working with the National Building Research Institute to assess the structural stability of homes and buildings.
Chandrakeerthi said the Director General of the Department of National Planning has been instructed to urgently prepare a Climate Responsive Recovery and Reconstruction Investment Plan to mobilize support from development partners. (Newswire)