More than 120,000 people have been affected by the recent floods that have struck across the Vanni, according to data released by the Sri Lankan government’s Disaster Management Centre (DMC).
The data comes as reports emerge the flooding was caused by the negligence of officials who allowed Iranamadu tank was allowed to overfill followed by the simultaneous opening of all the sluice gates.
An overwhelming response in donations from Tamil diaspora worldwide has been distributed across the Vanni via local civil society groups, student organisations and charities.
According to data gathered by the DMC, the hardest hit districts were Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna, with 123 862 people from 39,895 families reportedly impacted by the floods.
Approximately 32, 551 people from to 10, 318 families had been affected in Mullaitivu, 78,528 people from 25,281 families in Kilinochchi and 12,642 people from 4257 families in Jaffna. Another 141 people have also been affected by the floods in Mannar.
Several hundred were also affected by floods in the south, the DMC added.
The data comes as a committee has been set up by the Northern Province governor to investigate reports that negligence led to the devastating floods this month.
