The Department of Meteorology says that the Intertropical Convergence Zone, where winds from the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere converge, affects the island’s weather.

Showers or thundershowers will occur at most places of the island during the afternoon or night today (April 29)

Showers may occur in Southern and Western provinces and Puttalam, Mannar and Jaffna districts in the morning too.

Heavy rainfall of about 100 mm is likely at some places in Central, Uva, Eastern and North-central provinces and in Vavuniya and Mullaittivu districts.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Central and Uva provinces during the morning.

A 35-year-old person was killed and another injured in a shooting incident that took place in Hirana, Panadura.

Police said two unidentified individuals on a motorcycle carried out the shooting using a T-56 firearm during a party held at a house in Hirana.

Hirana Police is conducting further investigations.

Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports, and Aviation, Bimal Rathnayake, recently held a special discussion with officials from the National Transport Commission (NTC), the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB), and the Provincial Road Passenger Transport Authorities across nine provinces. The meeting led to several key decisions aimed at modernizing and improving the country’s road passenger transport sector.

Among the major initiatives discussed were:

• Immediate implementation of an integrated bus timetable for the Puttalam route.
• Launch of a pilot project on Route 138, where all buses operate under a single association with profit-sharing arrangements.
• Installation of GPS and CCTV systems in buses for improved monitoring and safety.
• Development of an online ticket booking system in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Technology.
• Introduction of random drug and alcohol testing for bus drivers.
• Mandatory issuance of bus tickets through electronic ticketing machines (implementation phase in progress).
• Formulation of specifications for buses used in passenger transport.
• Mandatory seatbelt usage for bus drivers.
• Identification of new roads/routes for the addition of new bus services.
• Provision of WhatsApp numbers for passengers to report complaints about buses, with numbers prominently displayed inside buses.
• Minister Rathnayake emphasized the need for swift action to implement these measures and instructed officials to continuously monitor and report on the progress of each initiative.

(dailynews.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by dailynews.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)