The overall water capacity of the 74 major reservoirs under the Irrigation Department remains at a low level of around 34 per cent, Director of the Hydrology and Disaster Management Division of the Department, Engineer L S Sooriyabandara, said on Tuesday (8).

He said rainfall had been recorded in some areas of the Matara, Galle, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Ampara, Batticaloa, and Monaragala Districts, as well as parts of the Western, North Western, and Sabaragamuwa Provinces, over the past 24 to 48 hours.

An increase in rainfall was observed in some areas, with the highest rainfall recorded on Monday (7) being around 40 millimetres (mm) in the Badulla area. In addition, several locations in the Ampara and Batticaloa Districts received between 25 and 30 mm of rainfall.

Significant rainfall was also recorded in some areas of the dry zone. In particular, the Maduru Oya and surrounding wet-zone areas received around 100 mm of heavy rainfall in recent days.

However, despite the rainfall, no significant increase has been recorded in the water levels of the major rivers, while reservoir water levels have also not increased substantially.

He further said that higher rainfall is expected during October and November, ahead of the upcoming Maha cultivation season.