The canal meanders through the village called Thuduwa but has being blocked in certain areas and tenements have been put up. No attempt has been made by the Urban council or the M.O.H. to get these, which prevents the free flow of water pulled down. The entire area comes under the purview of the U.D.A. There is supposed to be an U.D.A. office with a few labourers whose responsibility is to keep the area, particularly the canal clean. An officer from the U.D.A. using official transport used to visit the site about once a month and on every occasion he assured me that action would be taken soon. On one occasion he told me that the area would be handed over to the Urban Council. I pointed out that the Urban Council would not be able to manage as they were short of funds. On every occasion I contact the UDA on the telephone the person whose subject is Moderawila is different. In spite of there being a few labourers allocated to keep the area, particularly the canal clean, the canal is full of tall weeds preventing the free flow of water and provides an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.

On reading Ms Anoma Fernando’s letter I send registered letters along with a photo copy of her article to Minister of Environment and Natural resources, to Minister of Health and Nutrition and to Minister of Urban development to whom the land in the Industrial estate belongs. There was an immediate response by the Minister of Environment who detailed 2 officers to visit the locality. I took them to the site and related the problem. No action has been taken up to now.

The Medial Officer of Health Panadura, telephoned me to say that he had received a copy of my letter from the Ministry of Health, However he did not feel it necessary to visit the locality or even to send a Public Health Inspector. I have also not heard of a single person who has been charged for keeping his garden unclean giving the impression that Panadura is a very tidy city.

I have not had even a letter of acknowledgement from the U.D.A. The U.D.A. cannot shirk its responsibilities by remaining silent.

Statistics on Dengue are available for Colombo but unfortunately such data is not available for suburban towns like Panadura. However following the sporadic rains the patients having Viral Flu have increased as can be seen by the crowds at dispensaries. No attempt has been made to eradicate the breeding grounds of mosquitoes. The town carries a considerable amount of uncollected garbage, the roads are full of potholes and the side drains are blocked, not having been cleaned for sometime.

Action is not taken against those violating Public Health regulations. The area neighbouring the public market is full of putrefying vegetables and fish discards. The Panadura Urban Council has been dissolved and the District secretary who is in charge cannot be contacted on the telephone.

Unless urgent action is taken the problems will further deteriorate, with the onset of the South West monsoon. The canal has to be cleaned very soon for otherwise as in the past all the houses in the neighbourhood will go under water with the rains, followed by the usual gamut of diseases.