‘Like wastelands’: Sri Lanka tea plantations suffer Cyclone Ditwah’s wrath

Cyclone Ditwah, the worst to hit Sri Lanka in a century, has devastated the country's tea plantations, a key source of export revenue. The cyclone, which struck last week, has killed over 635 people and affected more than two million, leading President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to declare a state of emergency. Central Sri Lanka, the tea and vegetable heartland, was the hardest hit, with hundreds of deaths and widespread destruction of tea crops. The uprooted plantations and damaged infrastructure, including roads and railways, threaten the country's tea industry, which generates $1.3 billion annually and is projected to reach $1.5 billion this year. The disaster has left many tea workers without homes or livelihoods and disrupted the delivery of essential supplies.

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