June 02, Colombo: Torrential rains have caused severe flooding and landslides in several parts of the country leaving 150, 000 people displaced and 9 dead in Sri Lanka.

Lt.Col. Keerthi Ekanayake, national coordinator of the Disaster Management Centre said nine people have been killed and over 150,000 people have been affected due to the heavy rains.

Col. Ekanayake said the most severely affected areas are Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara Districts. Several roads in these districts have become impassable due to landslides and rising water levels. The affected districts include Colombo, Ratnapura, Kalutara, Kegalle, Gampaha, Badulla and Puttalam.

Ratnapura area was the worst hit due to the rising water levels of Kalu Ganga. The government has deployed Navy boats to evacuate the people living along the river bank.

People living living in low lying areas of the Kelani Ganga, especially in the Colombo district have been warned to move to shelters as the river is rising and may overflow if the rains continued.

The government yesterday allocated Rs 15 million as initial relief for the flood affected.