Colombo, June 4 (IANS): Sri Lanka's cabinet of ministers, on Tuesday, authorised the investigation of the cause of the recent floods, which left 17 dead and thousands displaced as heavy rains and strong winds lashed out across many parts of the country.
The President's Media Division said in a statement that the cabinet had authorised the Urban Development Authority and the Irrigation Department to launch an immediate probe to prevent such disasters in the future, reports Xinhua news agency.
According to statistics from the Disaster Management Center released on Tuesday noon, 17 people have been killed from the heavy rains since last Sunday, while 13 people were injured.
Altogether, 161,290 people were affected, with 8,212 people evacuated to safer locations.