Acting Disaster Management Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya had decided to present a Cabinet paper to provide regular relief to drought-affected citizens countrywide.
Minister Siyambalapitiya told the Daily News yesterday, in Kurunegala, that about 509,000 people within 10 administrative districts countrywide, are currently suffering due to the prevailing drought.
The minister had visited the affected people of the Puttalam district, last Friday and approved relief for 167,000 families. The estimated cost for the said endeavour was Rs. 485 million.
About 3,200 officials of the Disaster Management Centre had been deployed to aid such people countrywide, he added.