When the decades-long civil war that forced Samantha Pushpakumara to leave his village in north-central Sri Lanka finally ended, he was at last able to return home to a farming life he believed would bring his family a stable future. But then the rains never came.
The drought in Sri Lanka is causing wells to run dry, while wildlife crowds around shrinking waterholes, according to Kyodo News.
Pushpakumara, who returned after the war, now watches as the village's wells are depleted. For him and many other farmers, water is becoming a matter of survival as the monsoon rains fail to arrive as expected.
The drought is not only affecting people's livelihoods but also changing the behavior of wild animals. They are forced to gather at the few remaining waterholes, increasing the risk of human-wildlife conflict.
The situation reflects growing challenges over water resources in Sri Lanka, as farming communities face the threat of crop failure and shortages of water for daily use.
