Cyclone caused disruptions ease

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 January 2001, 00:26 GMT]
Eastern Trincomalee district which was hit by cyclonic storm and heavy rains on Tuesday is limping back to normalcy with the restoration of pipe-borne water and electricity supply, local officials said.

According to Meteorological Department Trincomalee district was hit by the cyclone at an average speed of 120 kilometer per hour on December 26. The water and electricity supplies to the Trincomalee district were disrupted at the onset of the cyclone due to rupture of pipelines and damage to the electricity grid in several places. National Water Supply and Drainage Board and Electricity Board buildings were also damaged.

Water supply was restored on Friday evening. The electricity supply was restored on Saturday night.

In the meantime, the Social Service Ministry went back on its promise to issue free dry rations for two weeks to all 83 thousand families living in the Trincomalee district, by now instructing the authorities concerned to provide rations for only one week, residents said.

Meanwhile a group of Sinhalese residents on Sunday held a demonstration at Abeyapura, a suburb in the Trincomalee, demanding that they be issued with free dry rations for two weeks as earlier promised by the Social Service Minister Milroy Fernando when he visited Trincomalee on Thursday to assess the damages caused by the cyclone.