The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said drinking water is still being supplied to people in 35 Divisional Secretariat divisions across seven districts affected by dry weather.
The DMC said water has been distributed to 113,354 people in those divisions. Overall, the dry spell has affected 35,149 families, or 115,534 people.
Monaragala is the worst-affected district. Water is being supplied to 41,360 people from 12,732 families in eight Divisional Secretariat divisions there.
In Batticaloa, 33,394 people from 11,142 families are receiving water. In Badulla, the figure is 20,418 people from 5,435 families.
The DMC said the dry weather has also affected Ampara, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Ratnapura districts.
Background
The DMC is the state agency that coordinates disaster response and relief, working with district secretariats and Divisional Secretariat offices. During dry spells, drinking water is usually taken to affected households by tanker and filled into community storage tanks.
Several of the affected districts lie wholly or partly in the dry and intermediate climate zones, where rainfall is lower and more seasonal than in the wet zone. Many rural households there depend on wells, small tanks and rainfall for their water, so a prolonged dry period can cut supplies quickly.
Monaragala, Batticaloa and Badulla account for the largest numbers in the latest DMC figures. Together, the three districts make up more than 94,000 of the people receiving water, according to the figures above.
What it means
For families in the listed divisions, the deliveries are the main source of safe drinking water while the dry weather lasts. Residents of affected areas can contact their Divisional Secretariat office, which coordinates distribution locally.
The Department of Meteorology has forecast fairly heavy rainfall exceeding 75 mm in several parts of the country on Wednesday. The DMC has not said when the water supply operation in the seven districts will end.
