(UTV|COLOMBO) – Hundreds of Army troops on the instructions of the Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake are currently engaged in clearing, evacuation and rescue operations in areas, badly affected by cyclonic weather patterns in the past 24 hours as of Thursday (30) evening.
Troops of the Security Forces Headquarters – West (SFHQ-West) and the SFHQ-Central in close coordination with members of the sister services, Police personnel, Disaster Management Centre (DMC), District Secretariats in Colombo, Gampaha, Badulla, Ratnapura, Galle, Kalutara, Moneragala, Nuwaraeliya, Hambanthota and Matara areas are currently providing emergency support services.
581 Brigade troops in Galle and Matara Districts cleared main roads which remained obstructed with fallen trees, branches and other objects and the railway tracks in specific areas. More than 114 troops including officers were attending to those priorities.
Meanwhile, troops of the 58 Division on the instructions of Brigadier Sumith Athapattu have rushed to interior areas and begun clearing work and facilitated the traffic along some of the roads. Similarly, SFHQ-West troops on the directions of Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, Commander, Security Forces – West (SF-West) are currently facilitating the evacuation of affected civilians to safer places as per directions of government authorities.
In the meantime, Diyatalawa-based SFHQ-C troops, commanded by Major General Rukmal Dias are busy clearing roads and succeeded in rescuing mudslide affected two civilians in Diyatalawa. Likewise, troops are currently removing fallen trees and other objects along Beragala, Haputale and Bandarawela areas.
The coordination of those operations is currently supervised by the Directorate of Operations at the Army Headquarters.
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