On a directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a combined mechanism is in place to provide immediate relief to those affected by the floods. Disaster management officials, local government authorities, security forces, NGOs and civil society volunteers had combined forces to support flood victims.

Rs.25 million has already been spent on relief activities from an allocation of Rs.80 million provided by the Government.

In addition, the Disaster Management Centre has set up 81 Disaster Relief Centers for homeless families, Minister of Disaster Management A.H.M. Fowzie told a press briefing at the Government Information Department yesterday (20 May).

Flood victims are provided with dry rations and cooked meals and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s negotiations with several international donor organizations to get required food items had been highly successful, the Minister further stated.

Dry rations and cooked meals are being distributed under the co-ordination of relevant District Secretaries.

Minister Fowzie also stated that long and short term measures to mitigate such disasters in the future were in the pipeline and measures will be taken to prevent encroachment and pollution near canals.

Meanwhile, the Disaster Management Centre issued a fresh warning to the people living near the Kalu ganga, Gin ganga, Nilwala ganga and Kelani ganga requesting them to take extra precaution as the water level in these rivers are rising.

Disaster Management Centre Spokesman, Pradeep Kodipilli said that flood victims are provided with food but they are now facing a shortage of bottled water. He requested any donor or philanthropist to provide water bottled to those affected at their respective District Secretariat offices, Daily News reported.

Around 50,000 bottles of water are required for the Colombo, Gampaha and Ratnapura Districts while 30,000 and 10,000 bottles of water are required for people in the Kalutara and Puttalam Districts respectively.