Bandula Kendaragama Dam Safety Consultant in Melbourne

Could you please pass this information to His Excellency the President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Attention: His Excellency Anura Kumara Dissanayake – Kotmale Dam – Gate Opening – Has Mahaweli Authority made a mistake or not?

Is there something wrong in the system

Your Excellency, I was attached to the CECB and worked in the construction of the dam from 1980 to 1985. I am a dam safety engineer with 48-years’ experience (and worked in 12 Countries).

A copy of my CV is attached for your kind perusal. As I understand, the Dam Safety Emergency Management Plan (DSEMP) of the Kotmale Dam is very brief, the inundation plan is very small, not adequate to identify the villages likely to be inundated.

As soon as the decision was made to open the gates, the Mahaweli Authority and Disaster Management Centre should have notified the people in the potential inundation area Nowadays, almost all people are using Mobile Phones. Therefore, the Govt should make an order to notify the people living in potential inundation areas to provide their Mobile numbers to the Disaster Management Centre.

Then, the DMC should create a database of names and mobile numbers of all people living and working in the potential inundation areas. Then, the Disaster Management Centre can s

end SMSs (text and voice messages) to all people living in the potential inundation areas within minutes. In addition, in my view, social media SHOULD be used to disseminate this message. If anyone needs more information on evacuation plans, please contact me on +61403204066. Your faithfully,

Your faithfully,

Bandula Kendaragama

Dam Safety Consultant

Chief Technical Principal, Bandula International Dam Safety Consultants (BIDSCO)

Member of the Technical Committee on Seismic Aspects of Dams, International Commission of Large Dams based in France

Monday, 08 December 2025 in Melbourne