Drinking Gregory Lake water could be fatal, environmental authority warns

Water from Nuwara Eliya's Gregory Lake poses a severe health risk, potentially leading to death if consumed, according to a stark warning issued by the Central Environmental Authority. The alarming assessment was presented at a District Development Committee meeting, as confirmed by Manjula Surawirarachchi, Chairman of the Nuwara Eliya District Coordinating Committee and a Member of Parliament.

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If you drink the water from Gregory Lake, you will be sorry.

Scientific evidence presented by the Central Environmental Authority at the meeting in the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat's 'Ashcharya' Hall confirmed the dire state of the lake's water. Surawirarachchi elaborated that Gregory Lake is now considered one of the most polluted water bodies, a situation exacerbated over time.

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I think it is currently the most polluted water body. Because during the time of the white imperialists, they created this lake to be nourished by the waters of 5-6 surrounding tanks.

Historically, the lake was designed during the British colonial era to be sustained by water from five to six surrounding reservoirs. However, over the years, these feeder reservoirs have become silted up. This has led to the accumulation of various pollutants, including heavy metals and phosphates, drastically altering the water's composition. The resulting chemical concentration is described as dangerous, with levels thousands of times higher than what should be present in natural water bodies.

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Because all the small tanks around the lake have been silted up over time, unnecessary things have now accumulated in it. There is a dangerous chemical concentration with heavy metals and phosphates, with the water composition changed by hundreds of thousands of times.