What remains of the Wattala Roads in the aftermath

Pix and story by Berty Mendis

After numerous complaints from the residents in the Wattala area the ST-1 visited the area in the aftermath of the recent incessant rains that lashed Sri Lanka and especially the Gampaha district where Wattala is in an integral part.

We started our journey from Hendala via Hekitta to Elakanda and proceeded to the Bopitiya Road where Hamilton Canal played havoc and made our way back to Colombo through Mattakkuliya and succeeded in taking some eye opening pictures, that may be there for sometime more to come and impede the traffic in the area.

Our bull picture is a fine example of vast devastation that the overflow of water from the Hamilton Canal has done to the Elakanda road.

According to residents of the area the reason for the flooding and the deterioration of the road network is the unplanned filling up of the marshes in the area which worked as a soak-up during the rainy season.