UN agencies assisting Sri Lanka in flood relief

Colombo, May 22 (ANI): United Nations agencies have confirmed that they will be providing assistance to the Government of Sri Lanka in giving relief to over 600,000 people affected by the heavy flooding brought on by torrential pre-monsoon rains lashing the country for over a week.

The Colombo Page quoted sources at the Disaster Management Center (DMC) as saying that as of this morning 606,072 people from 141,586 families have been displaced or affected by the floods in 14 districts. Colombo, Gampaha, and Kalutara districts in the Western Province are the hardest hit with the flooding.

The government has taken swift measures to provide relief to the flood victims with meals and dry rations.

The Navy has deployed personnel and boats to assist with evacuations and delivery of assistance while the Sri Lanka Army has been assisting in transporting items to affected areas where access has been cut off.

A United Nations team comprising representatives from the World Food Program (WFP) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in coordination with Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Center and Ministry of Economic Development visited two of the heavily affected districts in Western Province, Gampaha District on Wednesday (19) and Kalutara district on Thursday (20) to assess the situation.

The Government has said that it will continue to provide cooked meals for three days and dry rations for a week for those affected by the floods while the WFP is to provide dry food rations for 400,000 affected people for 4 days.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) is rendering assistance in Gampaha, Colombo, Kalutara, and Puttalam Districts by providing cooked meals and dry rations through the Village Disaster Management Committees. (ANI)