National building Research Organization officials predict that If the rain prevails further in Pahala Kadugannawa area on the Kandy-Colombo road, the risk of landslides could be increased. However the Director General of the National Building Research Organization, Engineer Asiri Karunawardena believes that if the rains subside, single lane could be opened for traffic .
The Director General made these remarks following the inspections in the risky area today (11). According to their observations there is a risk of landslides as a stream of water from the top of the hill has entered a crack near the place where the lower Kadugannawa rock tunnel .
The Colombo-Kandy railway line is also located above the landslide prone area and the Railway Department has taken steps not to operate any trains from Kandy to Rambukkana due to the situation.
He said there was clear evidence that part of the mountain had been destabilized by heavy rains and that this was due to water seeping into several cracks.
Mr. Karunawardena said that the crack should be closed and drain out the water first step to close the cracks and drain out the retaining water underneath using a parallel draining system.
Mr. Karunawardena said that a long-term program will be implemented using engineering methods to prevent landslides at this site and a report will be prepared in about a week using the information obtained from the site inspection.
The Director General said that the public is strongly advised not to come to or near the place to see what is happening.
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