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| Infrastructure |
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| Water |
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According to the sources
of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWS&DB) about 51.5% of houses
in Colombo city have direct water connection and about 4.6% of houses are not
served with water by the municipality. The
total water use in the city (cu.m/d) is 54.0% out of its total water supply zones.
The current supply to the city is 150,000 cu.m./d whereas the total demand is
112,759 cu.m/d. The difference is therefore identified as losses, leakage, illegal
consumption etc. However, the
GI pipes of the water network is old, corroded and not in good condition. There
are projects to rehabilitate water supply net work and distribution system through
metering all standpipes, and repair leaks and registration of all connections
to reduce the unaccounted water from the network.
| Electricity |
|
According to the sources
of CEB, 60% of the total energy demand is consumed in Western Province, and of
this the highest percentage share is consumed within the city. The percentage
of electrification is 80% within the city, where as it is 74.6% in CMR. The demand
of electricity density is calculated as 3595 KW/sq.km. within the city and it
is 3788 KW/sq/km. within the CMR. The existing consumption within the City is
685 GW. This reveals that Colombo
City has a good supply of electricity. However, there appear to be some shortcomings
in the distribution system. A separate study has being commenced to study the
existing shortcomings and to make recommendations to upgrade and modernize the
existing distribution system.
| Telecommunication |
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In 1996 the supply
of telecommunication connections were 221456 in CMR, whereas in the city it was
196,315. Therefore the city accounts for 88.6% of the total supply of telecommunication
connections of CMR. Out of the total waiters of the CMR, the percentage share
of the City was 27.5%. Also out of the total IDD lines of CMR, city share was
94.9%. This reveals the agglomeration of the telecom facilities in the city.
| Sewerage |
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The conventional sewerage
system within the CMR is serving a large part of CMC. This system was established
in 1896 and it is now very old. It serves a population of more than 600,000. Sewage
is collected from a large number of residential, commercial, and industrial properties. The
treatment plants are inoperative at present and untreated sewage is discharged
through a sea out fall (2.5 Km. long) at Mutwal and Wellawatte into the sea.
The failure
to enhance the capacity of the system to cope with the present
demand and the extension of the system to other areas has resulted
in the inability to handle the demand for sewerage facilities
effectively and efficiently. (Map 9)
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