Water will be released for farming without disrupting power – Minister

Cabinet Spokesman and Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardhana said the Government will take all possible efforts to continuously supply electricity to the South and that the water for agricultural purposes will be released without any disruption to the power supply. The Minister speaking at the weekly Cabinet media briefing held at the Government Information Department said that this issue was discussed at this week’s Cabinet meeting and no government in the world has the ability to control the current situation i.e. natural disasters when there is bad weather and climate.

The Minister recalled that he had previously warned about the severe drought and that in such cases, various media organizations had come together to distribute aid to the affected people. He also mentioned that when the water level comes down, one of the two choices, whether to irrigate the paddy fields or to provide electricity, will always have to be prioritised.

He said that the government does not take arbitrary decisions at times like this and that the government always consults the relevant authorities and takes action. Yesterday, the Energy Minister of held discussions with all the authorities and presented four alternative measures to the country. The minister said that electricity and water are essential for the farmers and emphasized that due to the lack of rain to provide both, if it does not rain, they will have to resort to alternative measures.

The Cabinet Spokesman emphasized that yesterday the President informed Cabinet that the State Intelligence Service had received a report that the parties involved in certain struggles and various parties related to the Opposition have made a planned effort to create unrest like which occurred last year.

The Minister presented facts regarding the preparations to surround the residences of Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera and Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera. He said preparations were made to bring farmer agitators to Colombo and create unrest.

He said that he as the minister in charge of media would be saddened if the media agencies act to incite the people and bring them to the streets in the naturally occurring drought conditions which the government has no control over.

The post Water will be released for farming without disrupting power – Minister appeared first on DailyNews.