A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, June 1, 2017
Sri Lanka: Foreign aid arrives as flood toll tops 200
Sixteen countries send relief supplies to Sri Lanka where the worst flooding in more than a decade has left 202 dead.
Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans remained unable to return to their
homes on Wednesday as the death toll from devastating floods and
mudslides climbed past 200, officials said.
Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake said 16 countries had rushed relief supplies and medicine to Sri Lanka to assist more than 600,000 people who were driven away from their homes following Friday's monsoon deluge.
"We also have a lot of enquiries from other countries and organisations
wanting to know our immediate needs. We are moved by the spontaneous
response," Karunanayake told reporters in the capital Colombo.
India and Pakistan have also deployed medical teams on the ground in some of the worst-affected areas, he said.
The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) confirmed that the death toll rose
to 202 after the discovery of more landslide victims beneath tonnes of
mud in Sri Lanka's hard-hit southwest.
Another 96 people were listed as still missing.
As the floods receded in most areas, hundreds of volunteers have fanned
out to begin cleaning drinking wells to bring fresh water to survivors,
officials said.
Sri Lanka: Air force steps in to help rescue flood victims as toll rises
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Rajitha Senaratne, a government spokesman, said additional medical teams
were also being deployed to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases.
The United Nations has said it will provide water containers, water
purification tablets and tarpaulin sheets while the World Health
Organisation will support medical teams in affected areas.
The charity Save the Children said that about a tenth of those displaced
were children below the age of five years, and raised concern over
stagnant flood waters becoming breeding grounds for dengue spreading
mosquitos.
Emergency teams rushed to distribute aid to another half a million
people displaced by the island nation's worst flooding in more than a
decade.
In May 2003, 250 people were killed and 10,000 homes destroyed after a similarly powerful southwest monsoon, officials said.
The DMC said the monsoon ended a prolonged drought that had threatened agriculture as well as hydropower generation.
Mudslides have become common during the monsoon season in Sri Lanka as
land has been heavily deforested to grow export crops such as tea and
rubber.
Last year, the monsoon rains caused flooding and landslides, killing more than 100 people in the country.