by Namini Wijedasa
The National Water Supply and Drainage Board has constructed a sand bar to prevent salt water from gushing into the diminishing Kelaniya river, NWSDB sources told The Island yesterday.

Meanwhile, the board urged cautious use of water, asking the public not to use pipe borne water to water plants or wash cars. Despite their campaigns, there was only a marginal reduction in water consumption. "We still pump between 125 to 130 million gallons of water a day," a senior official said.

The water levels of the river, which provides water to the heavily populated Colombo city area and most suburbs, are dropping steadily but there is no immediate need for planned water interruption, he explained.

Due to the low levels, there was danger of sea water mixing with river water, thereby increasing salinity. For this reason, a sand bar was put up a few days ago. "The salinity is definitely less," he said, adding that this measure was usually adopted in times of drought.

Although there is still no planned interruptions, the supply of water reduces in some areas during the daily power cuts because of difficulty in operating the necessary equipment, the official explained.

Meanwhile, the Met. Department reiterated that there is likelihood of rain next week due to a change in the upper atmosphere. September marks the end of the South-West monsoon and the start of the inter-monsoon season.