UN agency report indicates that more than 900,000 people are affected by drought (photos)

by Melani Manel Perera

Water shortages affect 23 out of 25 districts. Rain has not fallen in some parts of the country since March. Government emergency toll-free number is available. Officials have been mobilised in the most affected areas. Tamils make offerings to the gods to get rain.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – A report by the World Food Program (WFP), the UN agency that deals with world hunger, reports that more than 900,000 people are suffering from the consequences of severe drought, the worst since 2006.

The report was presented on Monday to President Maithripala Sirisena, who had already set up a task force to monitor the situation and called on all people to avoid wasting water and electricity.

The survey indicates that 23 of the country’s 25 districts have been badly affected by drought conditions. In some areas there has been no rain since last March, in others since June.

Temperatures are also subject to huge swings between day and night, causing further hardships for people.

According to the Disaster Management Centre, water is in short supply for domestic, personal and agricultural use.

To deal with the situation, the authorities set up a toll-free number - 117 – to inform the public. The Centre’s media spokesman said that officials are on 24-hr stand-by to respond to any situation.

The government has also deployed members of its Task Force in nine most affected districts.

In Trincomalee, about 440 families (1,381 people) are without water. In Kandy district, 679 families (2,510 people) are short of water resources. Even in the districts of Mannar and Jaffna, residents are affected by the lack of rain (more than 34,000 and 85,000 respectively).

"Water levels are so low that people cannot irrigate their paddies,” Romesh Madusanka told AsiaNews.

To avert further suffering and win nature’s favour, farmers in affected Tamil areas have begun to celebrate the Hindu ritual of puja (offering to the gods) to get rain.

(Photos courtesy of Prasad Purnimal and Romesh Madhusanka)