Sri Lanka’s tea plantations have been left in ruins after Cyclone Ditwah tore across the island last week, uprooting fully grown crops, destroying entire hamlets and pushing thousands of already vulnerable plantation workers into deeper precarity.  The cyclone, described as the worst to strike the island in a century, has killed at over 600 people and affected more than two million, leaving an already fragile economy in tatters.

Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector has suffered extensive devastation following Cyclone Ditwah, with preliminary assessments showing that more than 200,000 hectares of farmland have been damaged across the island, according to a report in The Morning.

Vanni District parliamentarian Thurairasa Ravikaran has raised urgent concerns over what he described as an ongoing attempt by Sinhala groups to encroach on the ancestral lands of Tamil residents in Kokkuthoduvai 15th kattai, a border village in the Mullaitivu–Karaithuraipattu Divisional Secretariat Division.

Moody’s Ratings has warned that the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah will have its most severe fiscal and credit impact on Sri Lanka, citing Colombo’s weak financial position, limited resilience, and high exposure to climate risk.

Sri Lanka has issued fresh landslide and monsoons warnings as the death toll from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah rose to at least 638, with 191 more still missing and more than two million people affected across the island.

Maravankulam villagers held a candlelight memorial for civilians lost in the recent crisis and handed over collected relief items for distribution to affected families.

Sri Lanka’s Fisheries and Aquatic Marine Resources Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar has issued a condemnation of the latest act of vandalism targeting the unextinguished lamp memorial at Chemmani.

Construction work has begun to dismantle the severely damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karaichi–Mullaitivu A35 road to make way for a temporary iron Bailey bridge, as part of India’s ongoing disaster support following Cyclone Ditwah.

A 23-year-old Tamil youth from Batticaloa has died after being assaulted by Sri Lankan police according to his family, prompting renewed calls for accountability amid persistent allegations of Sri Lankan state brutality in the region.

Tamil communities across Mannar have mobilised grassroots relief efforts as families displaced by Cyclone Ditwah continue to struggle with shortages of food and basic necessities.

Large parts of the island were devastated by severe flooding and landslides triggered by the cyclone, which swept across the island between 27 and 30 November. Mannar district was among the worst affected, with many families forced into temporary relief centres after losing access to homes, livelihoods and essential services.