COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's Air Force flew Buddhist monks over drought-hit regions on Sept. 19, with the aircraft sprinkling holy water from plastic bottles during the evening flight. The Air Force announced on Sept. 20 that the operation aimed to encourage rain as the nation experiences severe dry weather.
Three saffron-robed monks chanted prayers aboard a Y-12 fixed-wing aircraft. The Air Force described the mission as a "symbolic act of compassion" for a nation facing hardships from dry conditions.
Sri Lanka, a largely agricultural country, is grappling with what its meteorology department has termed its "worst" El Nino climate phenomenon. The department has issued warnings for both severe drought and heavy rains across the country for the remainder of the year.
Water reservoirs, including those that supply hydroelectric power stations, are currently at about 50 percent capacity. The country's electricity utility has conducted religious services in the past when hydroelectric reservoirs experienced low water levels.
The drought has already impacted wildlife, leading to the closure of two of six blocks at Yala, Sri Lanka's largest wildlife park in the southeast.
Weather experts predict that the current dry conditions will transition to heavy rainfall from late September through December. This period of rain is expected to be followed by another prolonged drought in early 2027.
El Nino is a natural climate variation that causes surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean to warm. This warming leads to global alterations in wind and rain patterns. Human-caused climate change can intensify the effects of El Nino, with a warmer ocean and atmosphere providing more energy and moisture to fuel extreme weather events.
