Uninterrupted water for quarantined areas even if bills have not been paid

By Ifham Nizam

The Water Board would not disconnect the water supply of consumers who lived in quarantined areas and had not settled their bills, Water Supply and Drainage Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara said addressing the media in Colombo yesterday. The Minister also assured them of an uninterrupted water supply.

Nanayakkara also said plans were afoot to provide 400,000 new connections to applicants, who had applied for water supply by March, 2021. He added that the target would be achieved by expediting the repair and operation of pipelines and pumps that were currently non-operational and by the establishment of four new water projects that were set to commence in the next few months.

They were Pattiwila Kelani River South Bank Water Supply Project, Deduru Oya Water Supply Project, Nagadeepa and Vavuniya Water Supply Projects. Those projects alone could provide more than 250,000 new water connections. In addition, the Katana Water Supply Project, the Greater Matale Water Supply Project and the Alutgama Matugama Agalawatta Integrated Water Supply Project were scheduled to be opened by March 2021, he said.

Nanayakkara said that the Yahapalana government wanted to hand over water projects to the private sector. However, the present government’s policy was to protect the state institutions while improving their efficiency.

The minister also made a special request to the people to use tap water more carefully and to protect water sources.