‘Resettled’ people stranded by heavy rains in Vanni

Heavy rainfall, reported amidst cyclone warning, has stranded thousands of people living along the coastal stretch of Mullaiththeevu and Vadamaraadchi East without shelter and food. The people of Keappapulavu, recently left under the trees by the SL military that has occupied their lands, are the worst affected in Mullaiththeevu district. In the meantime, the occupying Sri Lankan military has hijacked the assistance that was supposed to be provided by the civil authorities to the affected people. The SL Government Agent of Mullaiththeevu, Mr N. Vethanayakam, hesitant to to disclose the details of the displacement, has been instructed by Colombo to receive humanitarian assistance through the SL military, informed sources at the District Secretariat told TamilNet on Wednesday.

The affected people have not received any assistance from the Sri Lankan authorities for more than 24 hours after their displacement, according to Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian S. Sritharan.

“The only assistance that has reached the displaced people of Keappaapulavu is the milk powder that has been sent by a small charity, Nimalrajan Foudation, from Jaffna,” the MP said after distributing the assistance.

The people are yet to receive dry ration or cooked food.

“Three years have elapsed after the war, but there are only a few public buildings or schools with proper roofing to provide shelter to the affected people,” Mr Sritharan told TamilNet.

People of Keappaapulavu were denied resettlement in their own lands and were abandoned without shelter at jungle sites by the occupying Sinhala military that had appropriated their lands for militarisation.

People residing in temporary Tarpaulin tents in other places have also displaced in large numbers.

Fisher-folks have displaced entirely from the coastal stretch of Mullaiththeevu and Vadamaraadchi East after the warning of the approaching cyclone named ‘Nilam’.

More displacement is imminent as low-lying lands would be affected by the floods caused by spill-water from tanks in the coming days.

Normalcy is disturbed also in the Jaffna peninsula as heavy rainfall continued for the third day. Power cut was reported in several areas of the peninsula.

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