Cyclone leaves only 30% of railway network operational

Colombo, Dec. 4 (Daily Mirror) - Only 30 percent of Sri Lanka’s railway network is currently operational following the extensive damage caused by the recent cyclone, Commissioner General of Essential Services B.K. Prabath Chandrakeerthi said. 

Out of the country’s total 1,593 km of railway tracks, just 478 km remain functional.

Chandrakeerthi said that the cyclone has severely impacted several critical sectors, including transport, agriculture, electricity supply, and telecommunications. According to assessments, 1,777 tanks, 483 dams, 1,936 canals, and 328 agricultural roads have been damaged.

The disaster has also destroyed around 137,265 acres of farmland and 305 small irrigation channels, disrupting agricultural activities across multiple districts.

While the Road Development Authority has managed to reopen 246 previously blocked roads, 22 bridges across the island have been completely destroyed. These include six in the Uva Province; four each in the Northern and Northwestern Provinces; three in the Western Province; two each in the Central and Eastern Provinces; and one in the North Central Province.

Electricity restoration efforts continue, with 91 percent of disrupted connections re-established. Of the 16,178 affected substations, 11,315 have been reactivated, restoring electricity to 2,526,264 consumers—72 percent of the 3,531,841 connections that were disrupted. Reconstruction work is still ongoing in the Nuwara Eliya District, where damage remains significant.