Centres providing safe drinking water in Vavuniya short-circuited

By Dinasena Ratugamage

Twenty four centres established in Vavuniya to provide safe drinking water are now non-operational due to the nonpayment of electricity bills, villagers who benefitted from these centres have complained to divisional secretaries.

These centres were established to combat CKDu that prevails in Vavuniya. The electricity bills of these institutions were paid by the Presidential task force on chronic kidney disease prevention.

The task force provides funding for divisional secretaries to pay the electricity board. However, the Divisional Secretaries had not received any money for seven months.

The electricity bill of some centres have exceeded 100,000 rupees. Most of these centres have been established near schools so that children have access to safe drinking water.The residents of these high CKDu prevalent areas have been compelled to obtain water from insecure sources.

Chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) has been identified in Sri Lanka in the early 1990s in the Anuradhapura District. This was mainly observed among male farmers in their middle age. Later, the disease was identified in 11 districts in the country, and routine screening programmes were commenced by the Ministry of Health to identify and refer individuals in the early stages of the disease.