Army rescue & relief operations continue in full swing

Hundreds of Army troops across the flood-affected districts of Kegalle, Kalutara, Polonnaruwa, Kandy, Galle, Ratnapura, Gampaha, Puttalam, Matara, Kurunegala, Badulla, Colombo and elsewhere continue their rescue and relief operations in close coordination with Disaster Management Centre, District and Divisional Secretariats.

19 members of the 9 Gemunu Watch troops of the 582 Brigade under the 58 Division on information that a feeble old woman living near a landslide prone house in the general hilly area of Yatagampitiya in Bulatsinhala, rushed there braving knee deep flood waters and rescued her before she was brought down to the safe area on a wheelchair to be sheltered in the Yatagampitiya Primary School on Friday (25). 

Troops of the same Brigade assisted Bulatsinhala Divisional Secretariat Office to pack up dry ration stocks, made available by Cargills (Pvt) Ltd for free distribution around 7.00 pm on Thursday (24).

On the directions of the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake, all Security Force Headquarters, Divisions and Brigades across the island began to rush troops to island-wide vulnerable areas to provide relief and engage in rescue operations, if necessary in the wake of worsening weather conditions due to heavy rains that commenced around 20 May 2018 while mobilizing another group of soldiers to be alert to the worsening weather conditions.

Similarly, 1200 troops belonging to 24 regiments of the Army were meanwhile kept on standby to meet with any eventualities as rainy weather began to worsen in the past couple of hours.

Troops while attending to the priorities supported distribution of cooked meals, evacuation of victims from locations under water, stacking of sand bags to avoid bank splitting, immediate repair works, etc in worst-affected areas as situations warranted.