Hundreds of Army Troops Brave Inclement Weather & Continue Landslide Clearings

The daunting and life-threatening task of clearing earth-slips and landslides, some of which are still vulnerable to cause havoc with intermittent rainfalls, is being unabatedly carried out by hundreds of Army troops in respective worst-hit areas under the close supervision of the Commander of the Army as the dusk fell on Tuesday (30).

A total of 115 Army personnel of the 5 Gemunu Watch under the Air Mobile Brigade in the landslide-struck Kiribathgala mountain range area, close to Nivithigala, which has by now bulldozed more than three dozens of residential houses and claimed still unaccounted numbers of lives underground, are still continuing their search for the missing in close cooperation with Special Task Force personnel of the Police. The landslide at Kiribathgala is considered one of the major ones that wreaked destruction in the floods.

Meanwhile, worsening weather conditions in Mawatawatta, Bellana and Bogahawatta in Bulathsinhala - Agalawatta road, Pahiyangala Thibbotta mountain range area and Weeraketiya, areas have prompted Army troops to continue their relief operations, using troop carriers (BTR) since those areas remain still submerged in flood waters, mudslides, etc, and turned almost inaccessible.

Army troops of the 9 Gemunu Watch (GW), 4 Corps of Engineer Services (CES), 12 Division Headquarters, 582 Brigade Headquarters, 5 Sri Lanka Engineers (SLE) and 5 Sri Lanka Signal Corps (SLSC) took part in those above-mentioned operations and cleaned respective areas with heavy machinery.

Army excavators, backhoes and heavy machinery are still at work in some of those places while the 581 Brigade troops of the 58 Division were busy in the past two days at Baddegama stacking sand bags on the banks of Ginganga to prevent the banks from bursting.

In the Kalutara District, 9 GW and 12 SLSR troops of the 582 Brigade under the 58 Division at Athwelthota, Agalawatta, Baduraliya, Pahiyangala, Yatigampitiya and Bulathsinhala areas which were badly hit in the disaster, have thrown their full weight behind rescue and relief operations. They also managed to rescue a large number of civilians, who remained cut off from mainlands after water levels in their residential areas rose threateningly.

Meanwhile, 58 Division Headquarters responding to a request dispatched a consignment of 100 essential dry-ration packets to the residents at Ranaviru Village, Mapalagama, Galle through the Directorate of Veteran Affairs this morning (30) since their houses remain threatened with flood waters. The project was coordinated by Major General Priyantha Napagoda, Director General Veteran Affairs. Each dry-ration packet, worth about Rs 1500/= contained rice, sugar, dhal, noodles, water bottles, biscuits and other essentials.

In another humanitarian gesture, troops in the 58 Division Headquarters voluntarily pocketed out their own money and prepared 1000 meal parcels for distribution among flood-affected civilians in Agaliya, Divithura and Unanvitiya areas as breakfast on Monday (29). Brigadier Sumith Atapattu, General Officer Commanding, 58 Division, together with his troops took part in the distribution.

Meanwhile, Army troops in worst-affected areas have offered their maximum support for conduct of funerals of the victims in the past 48 hours. Arrangement of religious observances (Paansakula), carriage of coffins, preparation of burial grounds, transport of monks and clergy, supply of meals, etc is also being actively supported by those troops in respective places.