Buddhist devotees arrive to offer prayers during a religious festival at the Ruwanwelisaya Temple in Anuradhapura on April 5, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

COLOMBO - About 90,000 people in four provinces of Sri Lanka had been affected by droughts, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) said on Sunday.

The DMC said the four affected areas are Sabaragamuwa, Eastern, North Western and Northern provinces.

A total of 89,485 people from 27,885 families have been affected and Jaffna in the Northern Province is the worst affected district, with 69,113 people from 21,714 families impacted, the DMC said.

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According to the DMC, droughts in the South Asian island country usually occur due to the delay of monsoon onset or the temporal variability of rainfall.