Air Pollution and Atmospheric Chemistry

The spraying of chemicals to trigger artificial rain over the Castlereagh and Mausakelle catchments will continue for several more days, Power and Energy ministry said. Artificial rains were triggered in the Mausakelle catchment area today by spraying chemicals on clouds with the help of the Air Force. The Air Force used a Y12 plane to spray chemicals on the clouds at an altitude of 8000 feet. It resulted in rains in the Maussakele catchment area from 1pm to 1.45pm. Video   by Ranjith Rajapaksa

By ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka Mar 22, Colombo: The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) today (22) launched the first cloud seeding project to successfully create artificial rain over the catchment area of Mausakelle Reservoir in central Sri Lanka. An Y12 aircraft of Sri Lanka Air Force flew 8,000 feet above Mausakelle reservoir this morning and sprayed the cloud seeding chemicals into the clouds. According to a high ranking officer of the Air Force, the aircraft took off from Katunayake Airbase this morning and flew over the reservoir for about 45 minutes releasing the chemicals into the clouds. Bearing fruit, the pilot project yielded a rainfall of 45 minutes to the catchment area from 1:00 pm to 1:45 pm, a CEB official said. A senior official of the Ceylon Electricity Board said that in the next few days, aircraft will release chemicals into clouds to create artificial rains in the catchment areas of Castlereagh and Mausakelle reservoirs. The Ministry

By G. A. D. SIRIMAL A report from Delhi, India, says that Kenya could lose its Mombasa Port to China along the lines of Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka and the International airport in Zambia. Kenya has obtained a loan of US$ 2.2.billion for construction of a railway track from Mombasa to Nairobi and failed to pay it back. It is also reported that Zambia has surrendered its national airport to China as it has failed to pay back a loan. This should open the eyes of the developing countries, especially those in the South Eastern Asian region, which intend to obtain loans from China, whose hidden agenda maybe to gain dominance in the Asian region on the pretext of helping these countries to develop. Unlike other international lending agencies such as the International Monetary Fund [IMF] World Bank [WB] Asian Development Bank [ADB] and Japan International Cooperation Agency [JICA] , China does not look into the financial viability and whether the country could repay the loan. Th

By L.B Senaratne The Kandy Municipal Council is responsible for the chaotic Traffic situation in Kandy Town. Ten years ago, an order was passed by the former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva, following a report submitted by a committee of Dons of the Universtiy of Peradeniya about a one-way traffic plan to be implemented by the Kandy Municipality.   The other leader who had a vision of turning Kandy as an ancient town, was Late President Ranasinghe Premadasa.  He opened the William Gopallawa Mawatha and declared that no buildings should be on this road.  He had a vision for four-lane traffic on this new road. But the UDA had a different plan altogether, where they sold the land and also allowed a paddy filed to be filled, what late R. Premadasa said was the ‘lung of Kandy’. Then this would suffice to think of the future of Kandy as it is now.  Some of the main recommendations were that the byroads leading from Sirimavo Bandaranike Mawatha (Peradeniya Road) should be developed for

Once bitten, twice shy: Sri Lanka dumps new coal plans August 2, 2017  By  Bob Burton Tags:  coal ,  India ,  renewables ,  Solar ,  Sri Lanka ,  wind Photo: Greenpeace In a dramatic U-turn, Sri Lanka’s energy regulator has approved a new long-term electricity supply plan that rejects the construction of any new coal plants between now and 2037. Coal power’s fall from grace in Sri Lanka has in large part been driven by public opposition to pollution from the country’s only coal plant, the Chinese-funded and built coal-fired  Norochcholai Power Station . The US$1.35 billion plant, which had survived a  legal challenge  from environmental groups and was commissioned in late 2014, has been chronically  unreliable  with one or more of the plant’s three 300 megawatt (MW) units often  offline  and a long-running  controversy  over the coal supply contract for the plant. With the domestic credibility of coal in tatters, the spectacular fall in the costs of both wind and

‎ Department of Meteorology By Yohan Perera The reduction in wind speed has increased the heat in many areas of the country, the Meteorology Department said today. A spokesman from the department said heat increased when the country started moving towards the inter-monsoon season. However, during noontime, showers and thundershowers were forecast at several areas in the Southern, Sabaragamuwa, Central and Western Provinces and in the Kurunegala District. Fairly heavy falls of over 75mm were expected in several areas in the Ratnapura, Galle and Matara Districts. Also, spells of light showers were forecast in the Eastern and Uva Provinces and in the Polonnaruwa and Matale Districts. The highest temperature of 35.9C degrees was reported from Mattala in the Hambantota District, while the temperature was 30C degrees in Maha Iluppulama and 29.3C degrees in Polonnaruwa. Mist was expected in Ratnapura.  http://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Low-wind-speed-increases-te