Wellampitiya invaded by Kelani waters

By Ranil Wijayapala

Living in floods for five days for a section of people who experienced such a situation after 28 years is not that easy. But it seems they have adjusted themselves to the situation and are clinging to their multi- storied houses, dipping and swimming in the floods despite the fact there is no sign of the floods receding in Wellampitiya for a few more days at least.

Although there were signs of the water level receding on the main Avissawella –Colombo, Low level no such signs were visible in the low-lying areas in the Wellampitiya town, one of the most affected in the Colombo district, even on Friday evening.

Thousands of people were seen at Wellampitiya near the Police Station, trying to board a boat heading towards the flood affected areas in the by roads of the town.

The Navy had deployed eight boats and other civil society organizations brought dozens of boats to reach out to the people marooned in Wellampitiya.

The number of boats available did not meet the varied requirements of the people trying to visit loved ones and relatives marooned in their homes, to collect important documents from their homes, and provide essentials such as kerosene, candles, drugs and other commodities in answer to the distress calls from marooned houses.

Chaotic situation

The Navy officials and the civil society organizations found it difficult to cater to all requirements and therefore screened the most important requirements before allowing them to board the boats.

They have to cater to all these requirements while rescuing the people from flood waters and sending food and medicine to those in relief centres and most importantly facilitating the politicians and VVIPs visiting the area to observe the situation, together with a bunch of media personnel, which angered the people in Wellampitiya.

The Navy personnel had a big task in handling all these simultaneously, but they tried to coordinate them all in a smooth manner amidst the chaotic situation prevailing in Wellampitiya, mostly due to the large number of visitors.

The major complaint from relief operators is about people not willing to move out of their storied houses to safer places. “If the people left their houses and went to relief centres it would be much appreciated. Then we can deploy our boats to cater to the group requirements and not for individual requirements”, a Navy official handling the boat operations said.

But, it seems people are having grave concerns about the safety of their properties which were already inundated 10 to 15 feet in water. Even those who moved from single storied houses tried to live in neighboring storied houses in order to look after their properties.

“We have lost everything but we have to protect our houses from intruders. Many houses here have been burgled amidst the floods and drug addicts are moving into the area to rob valuable materials from our homes” was the common sentiment expressed by the people in Wellampitiya.

Many who had already lost valuable properties including vehicles to the floods have moved out of their homes to protect their lives.

“The most important thing is to protect our lives first then we can protect our properties. People should understand this ”, A.S.T. Weerasinghe who moved out of his three storied house with his wife and three children when the floods struck his house up to the second floor on May 18, said.

The narrow by lanes flooded eight to 10 feet high which are not reachable by the boats providing food and other essentials was a difficult task for the relief operators. But with the support of the people from the area especially three-wheeler drivers they made every effort to reach most of the areas that were not accessible earlier.

“My three-wheeler is already submerged in water but I am helping the Navy to reach the people who have not received any food for days. They are calling me and asking for help. So I am trying to reach them by boat”, Dushantha Uditha Sanjeewa a three-wheel driver operating from Kittampahuwa temple said.

“It is easy to help people in places such as Siddhartha Central College where so many families have taken shelter”, he said.

Many of the people who opted to live in their storied houses started to run out of essential foods, drinking water etc.

“We were told it was going to be a minor flood, by the authorities through the media on Monday and Tuesday. But even the places we thought would be safe have come under water now and they declared it as major floods after our houses had submerged in water. So we lost everything and my greatest concern is for my children’s books which were kept near the roof of my house which has gone under water”, Heroshan Thilak Kumara said.

Fervent hope

But the officials engaged in relief operations had something contradictory to say. They blamed the people for not responding to the message given to move from their houses to safer locations. However, the question is how strong was that message to convince a community who had not faced a flood situation of this nature in 28 years. This also applied to the people in Kaduwela, Kotikawatta, Kelanimulla, Sedawatta and also in Meethotamulla.

At the end of the day they are all victims of this massive flood and left only with the clothes they are wearing and have to start their lives from scratch after floods recede. Until then they have to depend on food rations provided by the authorities.

“Finally it is our fervent hope that we will be given assistance to restart our lives and hope the authorities will not mismanage the process as we have lost all our belongings”, Heroshan added as the boat services stopped their operations when darkness fell in Wellampitiya.