Sri Lanka declares state of emergency to tackle disaster relief operations

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency throughout the island in view of the emergency situation that has emerged due to the devastation caused by floods.

According to an official gazette dated Friday and released on Saturday, the state of emergency has been declared throughout the island.

On Friday, at an all-party meeting, the opposition leaders called for the state of emergency to be declared. The doctors’ trade union in a letter addressed to Dissanayake underscored the need to impose a state of emergency.

The regulations are expected to expedite the process of relief coordination and rescue operations.

The need for speedy deployment of troops, police, the health sector, civil administration and the civil defence force to tackle the crisis situation is to be facilitated through the state of emergency, officials said.

Cyclone Ditwah on Saturday exited Sri Lanka that left more than 120 dead, amid a trail of destruction and damage to infrastructure, entering the south Indian coastal line, meteorological officials said.

“We noticed Ditwah exiting Sri Lanka and heading towards the Indian coast,” Athula Karunanayake, director general of the meteorology department, told reporters.

“However, its indirect impact with heavy rains and high speed winds will remain for some time,” he added.

The official death toll at 9 am was 123 while 130 remain missing, according to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC).

The figure is expected to be much higher as severely affected areas suffer communication breakdown due to bad weather which has hampered verification of the impact from the disaster.