Heavy vehicles barred from using road over Kotmale Dam: Mahaweli Authority

Heavy vehicles have been barred from using the road over the Kotmale Dam, the Mahaweli Development Authority (MDA) has announced.

Meanwhile, Nuwara Eliya District Member of Parliament Manjula Suraweera Arachchi stated that the Mahaweli Development Authority has decided to resettle individuals on 55 hectares of land under its authority.

Meanwhile, regarding recent rumors about opening the Kotmale Dam’s sluice gates, the Director General of the MDA, H.M.J. Herath clarified that these claims have no basis. He said engineers responsible for the Kotmale Dam are opening the sluice gates only based on scientific data.

The Director General made these remarks to media following an inspection of the Kotmale Dam sluice and a meeting held at the Mahaweli Development Authority’s office in Kotmale.

He added that in the future, an alternative method will be implemented to notify the public before opening the sluice gates, different from the current procedure.

Meanwhile, owing to some main roads being blocked in recent days, vehicle movement was temporarily allowed via the dam spillway; however, heavy vehicles have been completely banned from using the road since yesterday.

Only light vehicles will be permitted until the blocked roads are fully restored, the Director General stated.

Meanwhile, the Gampola–Nuwara Eliya road has been reopened for light vehicle traffic, according to the police.

It was reported that Katukithula, Ramboda Ella, and Tawalantenne had experienced landslides, but the roads in these areas have now been restored to normal conditions.