December 04, Colombo (LNW): Sri Lanka’s rail network has been drastically affected by the recent cyclone, with only 478 kilometres of the total 1,593-kilometre system currently operational, Commissioner-General of Essential Services B.K. Prabath Chandrakeerthi reported on Wednesday.
Chandrakeerthi outlined the widespread disruption caused by the storm, which has affected transport, agriculture, electricity, and telecommunications across numerous districts. Hospitals have been instructed by the Ministry of Health to reschedule missed appointments, treatments, and medical examinations, with priority given as conditions improve.
Agricultural infrastructure has suffered heavily, with 1,777 tanks, 483 dams, 1,936 canals, 328 rural roads, 305 minor irrigation channels, and roughly 137,265 acres of farmland reported damaged or destroyed. The Road Development Authority has managed to reopen 246 blocked roads, but 22 bridges across the country have been completely destroyed, including six in Uva Province, four each in the Northern and North-Western provinces, three in Western, two each in Central and Eastern, and one in North-Central Province.
Telecommunications have largely recovered, with 91 percent of services restored, although work in Nuwara Eliya district continues. Electricity supply has been reinstated to over 2.5 million households—about 72 percent of those disrupted—following the reactivation of 11,315 out of 16,178 affected substations.
Emergency aid has been delivered to isolated communities, with dry food airlifted to residents in Aranayake and additional support provided to local medical teams.
A multi-agency technical team, including experts from the Water Supply and Drainage Board, Water Resources Board, Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, Irrigation Department, Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau, and the University of Peradeniya, is assessing the structural safety of homes and public buildings.
Chandrakeerthi also confirmed that the Director General of the Department of National Planning has been tasked with rapidly developing a Climate-Responsive Recovery and Reconstruction Investment Plan to coordinate international support and funding for rebuilding efforts.
