Landslide warning lifted

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

The landslide warning issued by the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) on Tuesday evening, was lifted yesterday with the improvement in weather conditions.

“We issued a landslide warning for Kegalle, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts due to the heavy rains in the districts. But with the weather returning to normal, the warning was lifted,”

NBRO Landslide Studies and Services Division’s Head R M S Bandara said. NBRO said there are 11 landslide prone areas in Kegalle, Kandy and Nuwara Eliya districts.

They include Aranayake, Galigamuwa, Dehiowita and Yatiyantota in the Kegalle district, Udapalatha in the Kandy district and Kotmale, Ambagamuwa and Nuwara Eliya in the Nuwara Eliya district.

Bandara said landslides could be triggered by heavy rains after prolonged dry weather, especially, in the hilly areas where forest fires had been raging recently.

The Irrigation Department, Meteorology Department, Disaster Management Centre and the NBRO will monitor the situation during the next 24 hours for possible landslides, the official said.