COLOMBO: Floods and landslides in Sri Lanka have killed at least eight people, including a 10-month-old baby, and forced tens of thousands more to flee their homes, officials said on Monday.

The government has deployed troops to evacuate people living on slopes or in flood-hit areas and the navy is helping clear canals in Colombo to stop low-lying areas including the parliament complex from flooding.

“We have placed troops at the disposal of the authorities to carry out rescue operations as well as relief work,” Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi told reporters.

Disaster management centre spokesman Pradeep Kodippili said nearly 5,000 families living in flooded areas had been moved to relief centres.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2016