A section of the Badulla-Bandarawela road, which has been shut down due to a massive landslide that occurred last week, is due to re-open tomorrow (15), if the Road Development Authority (RDA) is able to complete the repairs. 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Disaster Management Centre (DMC) Badulla District Deputy Director E.M.L.U. Kumara said that the road near the Hali-Ela town’s 7th Mile Post, which is governed by the RDA, needed to be repaired while the mountain on one side of the road, from which the landslide had occurred, needed to be carved in order to make it more stable. 

“Between Badulla and Bandarawela, a landslide occurred in the Hali-Ela town, near the 7th Mile Post. On one side of the road, there is the mountain and the landslide went across the road and fell to the Badulla Oya. The road is still closed as it is damaged. The risk from the mountain is still there,” he said.

The incident occurred on Tuesday (9).

Kumara said that three things needed to be done before the road was reopened: “The road is cracked and we have to stabilise it to be able to manage weight. We also need to stabilise the mountain to stop the land from sliding more. There are water supply pipes across the road which also need to be protected. It will take at least until 15 January to re-open that section of the road. It depends on whether there will be heavy rain again.”

He said that the RDA needed to use its machinery to cut the mountain into steps to compact it to a certain extent in order to stabilise it. While noting that people had not been harmed during the incident, he said that such incidents occurred in the district due to both global climate change impacts and infrastructure developments which had been done without considering future risks.

He further said that while there had been no reports of cracks in the road immediately surrounding the damaged area, the district had certain points which were being monitored by the DMC in case of landslides.  

Reports show that in December 2023 too, a landslide in the Hali-Ela area had led to the destruction of two shops.