Severe El Niño Drought Escalates Human-Wildlife Conflict & Agricultural Losses 📉

• Overall Impact: Severe drought driven by El Niño conditions has affected over 160,000 people across 8 districts, including Polonnaruwa, Ampara, and Anuradhapura. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has scaled water distribution from 6L to 50L per person daily, reaching 140,000+ individuals based on official data. • Agriculture & Supply Chain: Parched conditions in dry and intermediate zones have resulted in widespread crop failures across paddy, fruits, and vegetables. Livestock productivity has dropped sharply due to acute fodder and water shortages, severely impacting rural household incomes and local food security. • Human-Wildlife Crisis: Escalating water scarcity is driving wild animals into rural settlements, worsening human-elephant conflict and destroying homes, small businesses, and crop stores. • Monsoon & Climate Outlook: According to the Department of Meteorology, suppressed rainfall during the South-West monsoon has worsened dry zone conditions. While October-November may bring localized heavy rains, a drier-than-usual North-East monsoon (Dec–Feb) with high temperatures is projected to prolong stress on the agriculture sector and national water resources.