CLIMATE · VERIFIED DEVELOPMENT
Colombo Low‑Income Residents Face Water Cuts and Contamination Amid Drought
WHY IT MATTERS
The lack of storage and filtration forces households to rely on intermittent tap water, increasing health risks and economic strain, prompting calls for expanded community water schemes in urban areas.
What happened
In Colombo’s Ranjan Wijerathnapura settlement, residents such as Nalin Kaluwitharana rely on the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) for tap water. Drought conditions have prompted the board to urge water‑saving measures, yet households lack storage facilities and must use the line directly.
Frequent water cuts and maintenance work leave the supply muddy, forcing many to filter the water before drinking. The community has no widespread filtration systems, and rising utility tariffs add financial pressure.
While Sri Lanka’s Department of National Community Water Supply established rural schemes in the 1990s, similar urban solutions remain limited, leaving low‑income neighborhoods vulnerable to unsafe water and service disruptions.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Urban water quality pose challenges to low-income communities in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital
Mongabay · Dilrukshi Handunnetti · Discovery and factual synthesis only; publisher copyright terms apply