Landslides were caused by high frequency of rain during recent disaster: Geologist

By Yohan Perera   

Recent landslides were caused by high frequency rains which was experienced as a result of cyclone Ditwah, a leading geologist said yesterday.   

“Rains as heavy as 100mm to 200mm and even more were experienced in most of the places during the cyclone. This  was the main cause for the landslides in Sri Lanka,” Geologist Professor Kapila Dahanayake said.   

He said the soil gets washed away for high frequency of rains.   

Also, Professor Dahanayake denounced various reports which were published over social media recently. He said the ideology that Sri Lanka will not be able to use central hills in the future was far from being the truth.   

“I challenge those who come up with various predictions over social media for a public debate. One has to present geological and climatological facts if he or she comes out with predictions,” he said.  

Coming up with another disclosure he said there are only 100 fully qualified geologists in Sri Lanka and they are residing in many parts of the world.