Rail-track improvement to force 671 families go homeless

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 August 2010, 23:26 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Transport Minister, Kumar Welgama, has revealed in the parliament that the Sri Lanka Government has decided to demolish some 671 unauthorized constructions located on either side of the railway tracks in Colombo and in other parts of Sri Lanka, Colombo-based Sinhala daily, Lankadeepa, said Saturday. Welgama had also said court approval has been obtained to demolish the unauthorized constructions.

According to Lankadeepa, 62 unauthorized homes located in Sapugaskanda, 411 in Kolonnawa, 135 in Kandy, 17 in Kalutara and 46 in Kelaniya will be demolished shortly.

The Minister had noted that it was important to remove these constructions to rehabilitate the railway lines as these were an impediment to the travelers and the trains in general, and also posed a safety threat.

Meanwhile, at least 30 doctors attached to the police hospital in Colombo have contracted dengue, the paper said as a front page story. Most of these doctors have received successful treatment and are out of danger.

The paper further said that at present more than 10 police officers have contracted dengue and are currently under treatment in the police hospital.