Allaipiddy land route closure obstructs relief work in islets
[TamilNet, Thursday, 21 September 2006, 06:22 GMT]
Allaipiddy land route connecting Jaffna with the entire islets of the peninsula was closed for all traffic on Wednesday morning for the third time in the past week, causing the return of hundreds of government officials and many lorries loaded with relief supplies to the islets.
NGO officials said that the erratic closure of Allaipiddy land route, the only passage connecting the islets of Kayts, Velanai, Pungudutivu, Analaitivu and Neduntivu, has hampered the distribution of relief supplies to the people trapped in the islets and the civilians, dependent on the route to travel to Jaffna for necessary and urgent errands, were facing hardships. The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) said they closed the route in order to carry out a cordon and search operation in the area, claiming that there was an attack launched on them on the Velanai sea board Tuesday night.
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