HAVE YOUR SAY
DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN SRI LANKA
How do you rate Sri Lanka’s preparedness for natural disasters
and the government’s response to the recent floods?
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How do you rate Sri Lanka’s preparedness for natural disasters
and the government’s response to the recent floods?
Among the natural disasters that Sri Lanka has experienced, floods are what is widely discussed nowadays. Flooding is not new to our country and it has reached a different level in the recent past. Therefore, let me narrow my thoughts down to floods.
Is Sri Lanka ready to face another flood?
The following factors should be looked at, to assess the disaster readiness of a country:
01. Awareness of the implications or effects of floods
02. Availability of a well-equipped disaster recovery unit, readily available to be deployed
03. Evacuation plans and directions placed in flood and landslide prone areas
04. Availability of a budgetary allocation for relief efforts, realised through experiences of the recent past
05. Proper monitoring of construction projects to check the environmental impact
Considering the above facts, the answer for the aforementioned question would be a big ‘NO’, as I believe the state has made very little or no effort on the above. Reactive measures by the Government slowed down during the recent floods as a result of the lack of resources and mechanisms in place. It is important that the Government considers what is listed above, in order to reduce the number of causalities in the future.
A natural disaster is an event that cannot be controlled by humans. However, the extent of the damage can be controlled if proper measures taken. Disasters are common to both developed and developing nations; the affect or the impact is more for the latter, given the lack of proper disaster recovery or monitory measures.
On this light, Sri Lanka is a South Asian country which is exposed to the sea from all corners. The country was badly affected in 2004 from the Tsunami. The lack of knowledge about such disasters costed many lives, especially in the Southern coast of the Island. And it is a key area that the authorities focus on, when creating awareness on such catastrophes and preventive measures to be taken upon realising signs of a Tsunami or when it happens.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka is a country which is experiencing a consistent rainfall and has well-built irrigation networks for the excessive rain water to be collected and the excess to be disposed to the sea. The consistent rainfall helps farmers to plan their cultivation accordingly. In the past during the rainy season, authorities were able to predict heavy rainfalls and warn the citizens to take preventive measures.
Moreover, unobstructed waterways and greeneries enabled the free flow of water and control the damage. For unknown reasons, the rainfall has become unpredictable and the climate has shifted overnight, from one extreme to another. Illegal and unregulated constructions and cutting down of trees has become the norm in the country.
Due to these reasons, Sri Lanka today experiences disastrous floods even for the slightest rainfall, claiming lives and property. This can only be controlled by authorities taking actions against illegal constructions which obstruct the free flow of rain water and prevent such developments in the future. Furthermore, filling up marshy lands and excessive felling of trees should also be controlled.
I believe the Government’s response to the recent floods was moderately acceptable. On a positive note, the Government approached neighbouring countries for assistance and I believe it did a good job in containing the situation. However, state authorities were blamed for lives lost, whereas in most of the cases, the loss of lives were due to incidental decisions taken by the unfortunate souls and the spectators who visited the affected areas, disregarding the instructions given by the police and responsible authorities.
In conclusion, I believe the authorities made a fare effort to control the damage by deploying the police, tri-forces and imported assistance. Furthermore, it distributed relief regionally through responsible authorities, amidst criticisms and mud-slinging by the opposition, pointing out baseless allegations against the current regime, without joining the relief efforts. However, the authorities should have been proactive to control the situation by addressing the manmade causes that resulted in this calamity, rather than being reactive to it.
Our country has experienced more disasters in the recent past. However, I would not call them natural disasters, as these have been manmade. Cutting down of trees, unregulated landfills and constructions, some foreign constructions companies using modern technology to disrupt natural rain patterns and the mismanagement of solid waste, are a few of the root causes for these disasters.
We have to agree that you cannot eliminate disasters; but can reduced or mitigate the impact made by those on human lives and property.
What does any government do when something happens? They deploy the tri-forces to rescue and evacuate those affected and distribute relief among victims. But all these activities are remedial actions or corrections.
We expect the Government to act more wisely and look into why these disasters occur, and in turn take corrective measures to eliminate the root causes. The state has to educate the general public on how they can contribute to collectively minimise the damage from these disasters. This can be done through media, as well as, CSR projects of the private sector.
Appropriate rules and regulations should be implemented as preventive measures, and actions should be taken against individuals who violate those – regardless of their social status.
In addition, since it’s not totally preventable, the Ministry of Disaster Management should put in place, mechanisms to conduct necessary risk assessments, monitor weather forecasts, create awareness on the situation, warn and ensure that people are prepared, in the event of a disaster.
If you take the Government’s response with regard to recent floods, I am happy as you can’t expect more than this from the current lethargic government.
Inconsistencies can be seen in relief policies and guidelines. There seems be lack of focus and readiness in terms of policies and administration, and distribution of relief aid. This means that the resettlement efforts after a disaster are not at a satisfactory level. In almost all the cases, basic food and shelter are considered priorities. It is not about how the affected people can regain their livelihoods without being a burden to others.
Those who can jump the queue and grab that bag of dry rations may enjoy it, some even sell it back – at the expense of those who did not get it. Losses and damage to property are not being compensated on a fair basis. Absence of a systematic method makes victims more helpless.
In recent times Sri Lanka has been the victim of several natural disasters. Certainly such disasters cannot be totally avoided, but the country can implement measures to mitigate the damage caused to the people.
The question is, who is responsible? All Sri Lankans have an important role to play in protecting our surroundings. The politicians who have been in power during the last two decades, along with some of the state officials should take a bigger responsibility for the adverse impact that the people have faced during the last few years.
The destruction of the mangroves, illegal soil mining, felling of trees, and construction of buildings in proximity to the waterways have contributed towards the floods and landslides. It is quite evident that the mass scale destruction is still continuing.
With the recent floods, the Government was quick to respond, with the assistance of the tri-forces, to provide safety and emergency relief measures to thousands of people who were affected, but what about the loss of lives?
We also saw the ugly side of it, with individuals and institutions capitalising on the situation and acting for their benefit.
In my view, Sri Lanka does not have a disaster management plan in place. Although a separate ministry was set up a few years ago, we are yet to see any concrete plans being implemented. Any plans drawn up should not be restricted to paper, but the enforcement is a must.
It was seen that a team of foreign experts visited our country recently, to do a study and advise on future safeguards. This is indeed a positive sign and we do hope the present government will initiate a long term plan to safeguard the people from floods and landslides. Strict controls should be in place, to ensure the funds allocated for this purpose are not misappropriated. So let’s wait and see…
The low income households are given prominence when providing subsidies/relief in the aftermath of a disaster. There appears to be no reasonable basis for allocating relief. It is a pathetic situation that middle income households which form the majority of voters, are also part of the affected families, but are overlooked in the process. After all, the latter too are citizens of this country and should be privy to receive relief aid.
Losses and damage to property are not being compensated on a fair basis to regain their livelihoods. This was evident in the recent manmade Meethotamulla disaster, as well as the Tsunami in 2004. The middle income earning households received meagre compensation – those who resided in houses of reasonable level received minimal housing, and some did not receive relief to buy boats. Even in the case of the Salawa disaster, many of the losses and damages to households and business premises have not been reinstated.
Due to such issues, the Government’s preparedness for disaster management requires the affected people to fend for themselves. We urge for a framework to improve the Government’s preparedness and handling.
Duplication of duties occur to a greater extent on the part of the government, with most of the disaster recovery handled separately by two ministries – Ministry of Disaster Management and the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment respectively – causing the wastage of resources. And the purpose is not served productively at the end of the day.
We need a single comprehensive model, an adaptive mechanism with regular monitoring that is proactive to unfavourable circumstances. More often than not, in Sri Lanka, the irregularities which include pocketing up by certain unscrupulous officers (as per the reports) are treated as the norm. Hence, losses and negative consequences, social impacts arising from such activities are assumed to be collateral damage.
These perpetrators should be penalised for their offences, violation of procedures and misusing public resources.
The extremity of natural disasters in Sri Lanka is worsening with extreme weather conditions and climate change. Droughts are becoming severe and unimaginable flood levels have been reported. Trends indicate that risks and severity of thunder strikes have increased multiple times than what it used to be, 10 years ago.
Therefore, the current preparation measures, including in the case of the recent floods, seem to rely on the information obtained from Geographical Survey and Mines Bureau and Department of Buildings. As such, the data would not be sufficient to execute effective disaster management strategies.
On the other hand, disaster management consists of pre and post disaster policies and strategies effectively implemented and monitored. For instance, in the case of the Meeriyabedda landslide, there should have been mechanisms to avoid soil erosion, to curtail the risk of landslides.
People should also take responsibility on their part for actions that hinder disaster management such as with encroachment (of the environment and land) and not heeding to warnings given by the authorities.
When a Tsunami in the Indian Ocean hit Sri Lanka’s coastal line on 26 December, 2004, it was understandable that it kind of took people by the storm and the country’s state of preparation in the event of such a catastrophe was woefully low. But, more than 12 years after this massive natural calamity, regrettably, the government’s response to disaster management has barely been adequate in scope and intensity.
Why the loss of lives and the damage to the land and other properties seem to increase after every new disaster, is because the global climate change is in effect; and it’s essentially aggravated by the apathy and indifference of the authorities concerned to plan ahead to implement proactive measures, allocate the necessary funds and mobilise resources to prevent or minimise the potential damage beforehand.
The Geological Survey and Mining Bureau has identified areas that are particularly prone to landslides based both, on empirical data and their ongoing surveys. Likewise, the areas which are mostly prone to potential floods are no secret.
But, why don’t the Ministry of Disaster Management and its satellite organisations act on such widely available knowledge? Or are they supposed to wait for a disaster to happen and dole out some relief in its aftermath?
In my money as a generalist, disaster management must predominantly be about planning and taking proactive actions wherever and whenever possible, rather than being in the reactionary mode nearly all the time.
The damage worsens each time when Sri Lanka is affected by a natural disaster. Regardless of the precautionary measures taken by the Government and relevant authorities, the calamities caused by the next disaster would be beyond what is envisaged. The losses are becoming larger, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and complex to handle. This makes the process of providing relief such as temporary shelters, dry rations and resettlements, more complicated.
While it is accepted that the Government has implemented disaster management policies, a thorough hands-on approach to this could be more effective. Allocating funds for same is understood, but how well and promptly were those funds dispatched, is questionable. Anomalies in the distribution of disaster relief have been reported every time. But whether these loopholes will be rectified when the next disaster strikes is uncertain.
A collaborative mechanism with task forces to handle rescue missions, would enable a more advanced preparedness for disasters, providing victims with basics facilities (better allocation of relief such as food, sanitation and etc.) in a safe environment until resettlement in their homes.