Coordinated efforts matter, at least during a natural disaster

Areas such as Kolonnawa continue to be impacted by floods despite warnings issued by the government. Warnings in the form of evacuation notices don’t reach the public because they literally don’t have anywhere to go. Not many people would like to cram themselves inside makeshift shelters

One lesson taught by Cyclone Ditwah is that people need to respect the environment more. With the high demand for real estate,  people are convinced to purchase locations with the best view, proximity to the nearest town and other features often ignoring the sensitivity of these locations. Most high risk landslide-prone areas are in close proximity to forest reserves. The demarcation of boundaries and the use of such lands for commercial purposes have been politically driven. Today, as people grapple with severe hardships at the onset of the cyclone, they have also been forced to ponder on their past mistakes. 
The cyclone has also exposed underlying corruption in many of these institutions. Building plans are often passed by local government authorities,  but whether these authorities have the necessary expertise remains a question. According to the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO), there is a dearth of technical officers in these local government institutions. The usual procedure is to get building plans approved from a chartered engineer. In their absence,  it is the technical officers who need to review these plans and subsequently send copies to NBRO for approval. But whether these procedures are being followed in the rural setting remains doubtful. 
A recent analysis by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) revealed that over half of the population in flood areas were already living in households facing multiple vulnerabilities before Cyclone Ditwah, including unstable income, high debt, and a limited capacity to cope with disasters. These communities face heightened challenges in recovery, underscoring the need for targeted interventions. It further states that an estimated 2.3 million people were directly exposed to cyclone-driven flooding across Sri Lanka. This includes roughly 1.2 million women, 522,000 children and adolescents (ages 0-15), and 263,000 elderly people (ages 65+) who may face challenges in accessing recovery support.
Areas such as Kolonnawa continue to be impacted by floods despite warnings issued by the government. Warnings in the form of evacuation notices don’t reach the public because they literally don’t have anywhere to go. Not many people would like to cram themselves inside makeshift shelters. Willingly or unwillingly, few people listened to evacuation notices but they did move out of their houses. But many decided to stay back. This is why many home owners are compelled to build two or three storey houses; that way they could stay at the uppermost floor until water 
levels subside. 
But this cannot be done in the event of a landslide. Authorities such as NBRO continue to warn people about the prevailing monsoon season and about water levels in major rivers. They also warn people to evacuate. But has the government arranged enough places for people to evacuate until the situation gets back to normal? Of course people will evacuate,  but what about their livelihoods? It is certainly not practical to relocate people to another district! So what is the short term and long term plan that the government has in this regard? 
As at present, people are compelled to return to their homes irrespective of whether they faced a landslide or flood. Time is running out and people need to restart their lives. Compensation promised by the government still hasn’t reached those affected by floods or landslides. In fact, they don’t even have the means to clean their houses despite public health inspectors requesting people to do their own cleaning. There are volunteers cleaning roads, whereas these activities should be coordinated by respective municipal councils. 
A Minister was seen blaming an authority on their lack of clarity in issuing notices. Each one of these authorities are now under pressure, even the government. Therefore, without passing the ball to each other’s courts, every stakeholder needs to work together as far as recovery is concerned.

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