Earth mounds are raised around the building where the ammunition will be stored.

It is also said that the ammunition dump at the Welisara Navy camp too, will be shifted to Ambepussa in the future.

Less secure

Although an earth mound should be raised around an ammunition dump, underground concrete storage is globally accepted as safer.

Earth mounds are only expected to decrease the risk by around 50%.

Also, it is learnt that the camp is not capable of storing all ammunition from both the Veyangoda and Welisara camps.

Even though the Ambepussa camp is not situated in a densely populated area, there are still a considerable number of houses around it.

In the backdrop of the mass damage incurred from the recent explosion at Salawa, it is clear that these civilians too, face a risk to some extent.

Still a mystery

Meanwhile, the reason behind the explosion at the Salawa ammunition dump remains a mystery despite four probes being initiated to determine how it occured, sources from the military say.

Investigations have found that the dump contained ammunition which were well over 20 years. Ammunition aged in this manner are usually either be sold or destroyed but such measures have not been taken in the past years.

Such ammunition are also stored in the Veyangoda camp.