Who runs it
LankaWatch is built and run by Thilina Rathnayaka as an independent public-interest project. It has no connection with the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO), the Department of Meteorology or the Irrigation Department. It uses only what they publish, passed on as issued and credited, with a link to the original.
What it shows
The official NBRO landslide early-warning bulletins, division by division as issued, and which of those divisions the main hill-country roads cross. Around them, each labelled for what it is: rain gauge readings, Department of Meteorology forecasts and advisories, satellite rainfall and a computer-model rain outlook. None of these ever changes or replaces a warning.
How each bulletin is checked
We read DMC's list of landslide bulletins every hour; every 5 minutes from 15:45 to 20:00, when the daily bulletin usually appears; and every 10 minutes at any hour while Alert or Evacuation levels are in force.
Each new bulletin is read twice, independently: once from the images of its pages, and once from the PDF's own text. It goes live straight away only when both readings agree on every division and level and the other automatic checks pass, among them: every name is a real DS division, it follows the bulletin before it, and it is current. Anything else waits until a person has compared it with the PDF.
Every bulletin links to its PDF on dmc.gov.lk, so you can check it yourself.
What it is not
It is not an official warning service. It does not know about road closures, traffic or damage, and it never says a road is safe. When we have no current bulletin we say "no current data", which is not the same as "no warning". Always follow instructions from local authorities. In an emergency call 117 (DMC), 119 (Police) or 1990 (ambulance).
Contact and corrections
Seen a wrong level, a wrong road, a place in the wrong division, or a mistake in the Sinhala or Tamil text? Please tell us, with the page address if you can.
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