BASL chairman urges stronger national grid after countrywide blackout

Bar Association Chairman Rajiv Amarasuriya has urged the government to take urgent measures to strengthen Sri Lanka’s national electricity grid following another islandwide power failure on Saturday (Oct. 17).

In a social media post, Amarasuriya said the latest blackout was not an isolated incident, noting that Sri Lanka had experienced similar nationwide power failures in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2025.

He said the repeated failures exposed longstanding weaknesses in the country’s electricity infrastructure and underscored the need for greater investment in a more resilient national grid.

Referring to the 2025 islandwide blackout, reportedly triggered when a monkey came into contact with equipment at the Panadura substation, Amarasuriya said the incident demonstrated the vulnerability of the national power system.

He said nationwide power failures were exceptionally rare in countries such as Singapore, Japan and Germany, and argued that Sri Lanka should aspire to similar standards of reliability.

“The economic and social losses arising from these repeated failures may never be fully quantified,” he said.

Amarasuriya said the Government had an opportunity to address the longstanding problem by learning from previous failures and implementing recommendations made following earlier investigations.

“This Government has an opportunity to address this longstanding problem once and for all,” he said.

He urged the authorities to invest in strengthening the national grid and ensure a more reliable electricity supply while preventing similar disruptions in the future.

“Let this be an opportunity to find a lasting solution to a problem that has persisted for far too long,” he added.

Saturday’s power failure disrupted electricity supplies across the country, with the National System Operator confirming that grid instability had resulted in a total system failure. Efforts to restore electricity supply were continuing.