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| Sunday, 22 December 2002 |
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Over one lakh marooned by floods in East by Our Batticaloa Correspondent The flood waters, which had affected one hundred seventeen thousand (117,000) families in North - East for the past two weeks, receded in the worst hit areas from last Friday onwards. In Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Ampara and Killinochchi districts, several thousand families have been rendered homeless and have been given temporary accommodation in schools and other public buildings. Several thousands acres of paddy and other crops have been ruined, sources said. Social Services Minister Ravindra Samaraweera, and Ports and Shipping, Rehabilitation, Eastern Development Minister Rauff Hakeem and officers visited and observed in the Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee and instructed to provide dry ration for one week and financial assistance. In Batticaloa district 94,549 families have been economically affected by the flood, 8,577 families have been displaced and 1,406 houses have been damaged said R. Mounagurusamy G.A., Batticaloa. In Trincomalee district 16,500 have been affected, including displaced families who returned from Vanni and waiting for resettlement in villages Thiriyai, Kuchchaveli and other villages in the North of the Trincomalee are rendered homeless due to flood water entering their temporary huts put up in a coconut estate at Nilaveli, North of East port town. More than four hundred internally displaced families live in Nilaveli refugee camp. Also, 29,530 families are affected by flood in the Amapra district. In Killinochchi district, 1,500 families displaced by the flood due to continuous rain. Refugees camp is in Killinochci MMV and Catholic Church. The Iranaimadu tank, Mandaikallar tank and Kudamuruddiaru tank are over flowing and several acres of paddy crops have been washed away, said V. Rasanayagam, G.A., Killinochchi. Meanwhile the transport on the A-9 highway was interrupted last Wednesday morning as heavy rainfall worsened the conditions of the already damaged highway between Umaiyalpuram and the Chemical Factory in Paranthan. The Tamil Eelam Administrative Service, The Tamil Eelam Police Service and the Tamil Eelam Traffic Police jointly repaired the road and transport was restored to normal by Wednesday night, the Voice of Tigers radio said in its news broadcast. The radio said that the Muhamalai Army checkpoint remained open at night to allow traffic. Passengers and drivers complain, however, that they still face severe difficulties in their travel as the highway has been severely damaged at many points between Elephant Pass and Paranthan. As the rain receded in the Vanni Thursday morning, officials said that nearly 700 homes are submerged in floods and many families who resettled in their homes following the ceasefire agreement are being affected again. |
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