Mine threats after flood waters recede in Sri Lanka
January 17th, 2011 - 3:12 am ICT by BNO NewsCOLOMBO (BNO NEWS) - Sri Lanka’s military and the United Nations on Sunday warned of the threat posed by unexploded mines which are surfacing now flood waters are receding, the Sunday Times reported.
“There is every possibility of mines surfacing as a result of flood waters,” military spokesperson Udaya Madawala told the Sri Lankan newspaper. The mines are remnants of the civil war between government troops and Tamil rebels that ended in May 2009.
The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the flood waters could unearth mines, ERWs and explosives, and carry them to areas thought to be safe.
In the three eastern province districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara, the worst-hit by the floods, almost 90 percent of the mines had been removed. However, the spread of flood waters in the districts of Vavuniya and Mullaitivu could become a threat, Madawala added.
Approximately one million people were affected by floods, which has killed at least 37 people so far. The floods have also caused major damage to roads, irrigation tanks, and paddy land, raising fear of a severe shortage of crops. The damage to infrastructure facilities was the worst since the 2004 tsunami.
Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the Government would launch a reconstruction program of roads, rail tracks, irrigation tanks and canals, and buildings damaged by the floods, the Sunday Times reported.
The loss is estimated at about Rs. 40 billion ($361 million), Amaraweera said.
- Civil war anti-tank mine explodes, kills 14 in Cambodia - Nov 17, 2010
- Floods render thousands homeless in Bihar - Aug 21, 2011
- Over 300,000 Sri Lankans displaced in flash floods - Dec 16, 2009
- Over 364,000 affected in Sri Lanka floods - Jan 01, 2011
- Four more die in Orissa floods, toll at 26 - Sep 15, 2011
- Flood-relief activities will not impact fight against Taliban: Pak Army - Aug 14, 2010
- Post-flood reconstruction, rehabilitation in Pak to cost 6.7 billion dollars - Nov 15, 2010
- Sri Lanka donates flood relief to Thailand - Nov 23, 2011
- Orissa flood toll 20 - Sep 14, 2011
- Rain deaths mount in Karnataka, Andhra; Army, air force begin rescue (Roundup) - Oct 02, 2009
- Some respite from rain in flood-hit north Karnataka, toll 170 - Oct 04, 2009
- UK lifts Sri Lanka travel ban advisory for first time in 30 years - Aug 07, 2010
- Governor asks Orissa to probe dam 'mismanagement' - Oct 05, 2011
- Australia triples Pak flood aid to 35 million dollars - Aug 17, 2010
- More than 20 dead after truck explodes near police station in eastern Sri Lanka - Sep 17, 2010
Tags: batticaloa, bno, disaster management, eastern province, flood waters, government troops, humanitarian affairs, infrastructure facilities, mahinda, military spokesperson, raising fear, reconstruction program, rs 40, sri lanka colombo, sri lankan newspaper, tamil rebels, tsunami disaster, unexploded mines, united nations office, vavuniya