(Sri Lanka Brief/ 01 November 2025) Former Samagi Jana Balawegaya Member of Parliament and senior lawyer Lakshman Kiriella has blamed the recent catastrophic flooding in Kandy on mismanagement of the Mahaweli River and reservoir systems. Speaking at a press conference in Colombo yesterday, Kiriella alleged that the Victoria Reservoir was not opened systematically, causing the river to overflow and inundate the historic city.
“This is a tragedy of unprecedented scale. Kandy has never been submerged in any flood before, yet its main roads have now turned into rivers,” Kiriella said. He further claimed that more than 500 people in the Kandy district have lost their lives, while Gampola was also submerged following the sudden release of water from the Kotmale Reservoir.
Kiriella criticised the authorities for failing to act on early warnings. “The Meteorological Department announced on 12 November that heavy rains were expected. Had the spill gates been opened gradually, this disaster could have been avoided,” he stated. He also accused the government of neglecting relief efforts for Kandy and surrounding villages, highlighting that the Disaster Management Committee—tasked with emergency decision-making—has not convened for over a year.
According to Kiriella, between 25 and 30 people have died in each electorate of the Kandy district due to the floods.
Nationwide Impact
The flooding has caused widespread devastation across Sri Lanka, with multiple districts affected by landslides, road blockages, and power outages. Thousands of families have been displaced, and emergency shelters are operating beyond capacity. The government has declared a state of emergency in several regions, while rescue operations continue under challenging conditions.
Relief agencies have warned of potential outbreaks of waterborne diseases and called for urgent medical and food supplies. Infrastructure damage—including collapsed bridges and disrupted transport networks—is expected to take months to repair, raising concerns about economic recovery and public safety.
Meanwhile Samagi Jana Balawegaya MP Kabir Hashim raised the issue in Parliament before staging a walkout, asserting that the scale of devastation could have been significantly mitigated had the Government acted on advance warnings.
Hashim noted that both the Meteorology Department and the Irrigation Department issued alerts on 12 November forecasting severe weather and high-risk conditions across multiple districts. He argued that these warnings were neither adequately considered nor translated into preventive measures.
The MP highlighted that established reservoir management practices require water to be released gradually when heavy rainfall is anticipated. Instead, delays forced authorities to open spill gates abruptly, triggering major flooding downstream. Referring to previous emergencies, Hashim said Parliament had previously debated similar risks and that institutional memory should have informed decisions ahead of the current crisis.
He claimed that phased water releases from mid-November could have saved most of the lives lost. Hashim further criticised the failure to bring the matter before Parliament for discussion, which could have drawn on technical expertise to shape a timely response.