Cyclone Ditwah Recovery: President Reviews Nuwara Eliya & Badulla Efforts 🇱🇰

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake visited Nuwara Eliya and Badulla to accelerate post-Cyclone Ditwah recovery, focusing on restoring services and supporting affected communities. • Nuwara Eliya District: • 63,121 people from 19,780 families affected by landslides and flooding. • Emphasis on restoring electricity, water, communications, and irrigation. • Agriculture: Vegetable and potato output fell by 25%; officials ordered urgent reports on crop damage, compensation, and seed distribution to restart cultivation. Maha season paddy cultivation irrigation systems to be repaired immediately. • Infrastructure: Government to take over and repair 611 estate-related roads; swift reconstruction of collapsed Agarapathana Bridge ordered. • Education: 490 of 551 damaged schools to reopen by December 16; alternative arrangements for others. • Recruitment of retired technical staff for National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) ordered. • Badulla District: • 64,140 people from 19,133 families affected; 418 houses fully destroyed, 7,703 partially damaged. • Priority on safe life, supervised resettlement, and completing essential repairs before December 31 using 2025 allocations. • 90% of damaged power network restored; water supply and communications returning to normal. • Road repairs across all classifications (national, provincial, local) to begin in January. • Rs. 15,000 allowance for affected schoolchildren and Rs. 25,000 for cleaning religious sites. • Swift compensation for 6,711 acres of damaged agricultural land; temporary water delivery to salvage Maha season. • Overall Directives: President stressed effective coordination, avoiding delays, and ensuring no shortage of funds for relief or restoration. He highlighted the central highlands' importance for environmental stability and the need for long-term disaster prevention and planning.