Economic crisis deepens in Sri Lanka: Street lights were switched off, after decades there was a 13-hour power cut in the country, demonstration outside the President's residence

Posted on 1st Apr 2022 by rohit kumar

In Sri Lanka, even street lights are being switched off to save electricity. Sri Lanka's Electricity Minister Pavitra Vaniyarachi said on Thursday that state power Monopoly has also imposed a 13-hour power cut because it does not have diesel for generators. The minister said that we have directed officials to switch off street lights across the country to help save electricity.

 

He said that after decades such an economic crisis has arisen in the country, due to which the disappointing decision has been taken to cut the power of major markets here.

 

Here, people are protesting on the road due to the deepening economic problem in the country. Thousands of people protested outside President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's residence late on Thursday. People were raising slogans while waving posters. At least 10 people have been injured in the violence during this.

 

lathi-charge protesters

 

Not only this, but the protesters also clashed with the police. The situation got so bad that the special task force had to be called. The clash started when the police tried to disperse these protesters. People also started throwing stones at the police. After this the police lathi-charged.

 

Sri Lanka is facing a financial crisis

 

There is a shortage of fuel and gas in the country. People have to stand in line for many hours for petrol and diesel. The educational board has run out of paper and ink, after which the exams have been postponed indefinitely. There was no diesel in Sri Lanka on Thursday evening, due to which transport came to a standstill.

 

Along with this, 22 million people in the country also had to face power cuts for a long time. Alam is that milk has become more expensive than gold for the people here. People have to deal with many problems even for two times of bread.

 

Drowning in debt due to the stagnation of tourism

 

The tourism sector has a big role in the economy of Sri Lanka, but it has already come to a standstill due to the impact of Corona. Tourism is the third-largest source of foreign currency for the country. Due to its weakening, the foreign exchange reserves of the country have become almost empty. About 5 lakh Sri Lankans are directly dependent on tourism, while 20 lakh are indirectly connected with it. Tourism contributes more than 10% to Sri Lanka's GDP. Sri Lanka gets about $ 5 billion (about Rs 37 thousand crores) of foreign currency annually from tourism.

 

Also Read: Sri Lanka's Light Gul Energy crisis deepens in the country which is financially crippled by a debt trap, 10 hours cut every day

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