If rains fail in next 10 days:

Power, water restrictions imminent

by L.S Ananda WEDAARACHCHI

The government will be constrained to impose restrictions on the use of electricity and the supply of water for irrigation if there are no rains within the next 10 days, said Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

He said that drinking water should not be used to wash cars and water plants.

Generally water treatment plants and specially those in the North Central and Eastern Provinces get very limited water due to the prevailing drought, he said. Since the country has not received sufficient rains during the current South West monsoon and the inter-monsoon, upcountry water resources such as rivers and waterfalls have gone dry.

The ground water bed is also dropping. The country’s drought has a serious impact especially, upcountry and in the North Central Province, the minister said.