Strict law enforcement for human settlements in disaster prone hill country

By Kelum Bandara  

In the wake of cyclone Ditwah that triggered landslides, the government is planning strict implementation of the laws and regulations related to creation of human settlements in hazard-prone areas of the mountainous districts, an official said.  

According to the mapping of hazard zones prior to the latest disaster, as much as 50 percent of the landmass of the Badulla District had been identified as vulnerable to landslides in the event of heavy rain.  

Director General of the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Asiri Karunawardane said that a fresh mapping would be undertaken to assess the risky areas following the recent disaster  

“We have to review the present condition and update the map accordingly. There are about more than 100 major landslides that occurred.  So with that, the terrain has been changed. Therefore, we may have to review our maps and update that one accordingly,” he said.   

He said that a significant number of people would have to be evacuated from their original places of residence. In some places where landslides occurred, there were no human settlements, according to him.  

Asked about the need to enact new laws and regulations, he said, “There are laws and regulations but they have to be enforced strictly.”   

In the construction of buildings hereafter in the risky areas, NBRO approval will be strictly required.   

Asked about the adaptation of smart engineering like in Japan for landslides prevention, he said a lot of advanced mitigation efforts had been undertaken in Sri Lanka too. 

These areas, he said, had been spared in the recent spate of landslides.   

“In Japan, people strictly follow land use and settlement patterns. In our case, people live all over mountains and valleys. We cannot protect all these locations. In Japan, human settlements are concentrated. These settlements are protected by slope stabilization,” he said.   

He said Sri Lanka should also adhere to such a policy and leave risky areas for cultivation or forestation rather than for human settlement.  

Otherwise, he said it would be costly for a country like Sri Lanka to undertake slope stabilization in hazard-prone areas in the upcountry.