Victims of Aranayaka landslide move out: Army in rebuilding effort [June 05 2016]

By Isuri Yasasmin Kaviratne

Landslide- affected victims in Aranayaka in the Kegalle district yesterday(June 4) began moving out from schools and government buildings making room for schools to function on Monday, while troops engaged in search operations were focussing on building shelters for affected people.

The number of temporary camps set up in Aranayaka has been reduced to 16 with people moving out, and with schools opening from next Monday, the number of camps will reduce to 13.

Divisional Secretary of Aranayaka, Z.A.M. Faisal said three out of the four schools used as camps in the area will be reopened on Monday June 6. The remaining school, a Muslim school, will be closed for Ramazan, hence the school will continue as a camp.

People are being transferred from camps to be resettled in separate tents to make room in schools. Many schools continued with classes for grade 5 and 11, while they were being used as camps. He said the National Building and Research Organisation was conducting land evaluation to determine whether the area was still hazard-prone, and if proved otherwise, people will be permitted to return to these areas.

"People have been requested to identify their plots of land in the cleared areas, and todemarcate the boundaries so that they could be gradually settled," he said.

The search operations were discontinued since last week. Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe told the Sunday Observer that the Army has was now involved in building shelters in the affected areas.

The National Child Protection Authority(NCPA), other state authorities and NGOs were conducting support programmes for children.

Chairperson of NCPA, Natasha Balendra said there were education-related classes in the mornings and recreational activities coupled with psychosocial and protection awareness activities in the afternoons for children in camps.

May was a month that caused many disasters, killing 87 people while 102 were missing and displacing 286,886 from 70,715 families.

People living near river banks are assured of safety as water levels of the rivers that overflowed have receded. Water levels of the Kalu Ganga Millakanda section is dropping.

However, the Meteorology Department said strong winds and thundershowers can be expected in the Western, Central, Sabaragamuwa, North-Western Provinces and Galle and Matara Districts.