Army Installs New Drinking Water Facility

Considering the humanitarian need for access to drinking water, the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva, recently directed the Security Force Headquarters - East (SFHQ-E) to install a new pipe-borne water system plus a purification machine for the benefit of school children at Uttuchenai Government Tamil Mixed School in Batticaloa District after the TV programme 'Sirasa Gammedda' highlighted the scarcity of drinking water in the school.

Thoppigala-based 232 Brigade troops of the SFHQ-E took the initiative on the directions of Major General K.M.U Wijeratne, Commander, Security Forces - East (SF-E) and erected a new overhead water tank, laid a new tap line system and installed a purification system with the funds provided by the Commander's Secretariat.

Around the same time, those 232 Brigade troops, having observed the dilapidated state of one of the school buildings in the premises, took steps to repair it at no cost to the school.

During a recent simple ceremony, the new water system was commissioned in the presence of Mr. Shevan Daniel, Group Director, Capital Maharaja Ltd, Mr. N Kunalingam, Zonal Director of Education, Major General K.M.U Wijeratne,

Commander, SF-E, Major General Darshana Hettiarachchi, General Officer Commanding, 23 Division, Brigadier A.I Marasinghe, 232 Brigade Commander, principal, teachers, parents and students.

Earlier, school students were compelled to walk a distance of more than a kilometer to fetch drinking water since the only available tube well failed to get them clean drinking water. The Army completed the project within 45 days after the TV exposure revealed the difficulty.