26 December 2004 — the nature astounded the world with its fury — the devastating tsunami. More than 16 months have passed, but Sri Lanka still feels the burnt of it, as the well water in many coastal areas there, is still undrinkable — they are flooded with salt and pollution, a study has revealed.
The Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than 25,000 people in Sri Lanka. The flood destroyed and contaminated almost all the wells within reach of the waves. Sea water and pollutants penetrated in places up to 1.5 kilometers inland. The wave led to contaminate some 40,000 shallow wells, with each serving several families!
Jayantha Obeysekera, a Sri Lanka-born hydrologist at South Florida Water Management District in West Palm Beach said,
Levels of salinity were still extraordinarily high in September, as was cross-contamination with pesticides and insecticides from upland fields… What makes the situation worse is that there exists no water-control monitoring system.
Via: Nature