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 Nearly 400,000 still affected by floods in Sri Lanka, 40 dead, 7 missing


Dec 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Center (DMC) says it is providing relief to nearly 400,000 people that are still affected by the floods and landslides.
According to the DMC, since December 17, 398,538 people belonging to 109,191 families have been affected by the adverse weather in Southern, Central, North Central, Uva, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern, Northern and North Western Provinces.
The DMC reported 40 deaths, 10 of them in the Eastern Province while 7 have been declared missing and 20 individuals have been injured.
A total of 38,763 people of 11,120 families have been sheltered in 244 evacuation centers.
The floods and landslides had damaged 4,191 houses completely and 21,674 houses partially.
The government has estimated that some 78,559 hectares of paddy lands have been completely destroyed and 158 mini irrigation tanks in 11 districts have been extensively damaged by floods.
Meanwhile, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the government has allocated 142 million rupees to provide relief to the affected people and another 50 million rupees are needed.
However, the opposition parties have criticized the government for not providing adequate relief to the affected people in rural areas.
The Minister has dismissed the opposition charges saying that the country's Army and Navy are also assisting relief distribution and repairing damaged roads and dams in flooded areas.