Disaster mitigation; No time to lose

• It must be noted that after the 1957 major floods similar disasters have occurred with 32 years, 27 years and nine years of intervals. Therefore, there is no time to waste

Almost three months have elapsed since the disastrous Cyclone Ditwah swept the country claiming around a thousand lives, including those who are claimed to be missing. Those who sacrificed their lives in this calamity taught hundreds of lessons both to the people and to the authorities and some of them had been taught during the similar past disasters and repeated this time as well. 
Yes, they taught, yet, did we grasp the gravity of those lessons properly and are we preparing for such future disasters? These are the foremost questions we have to pose to each other and to the authorities responsible. The series of landslides that occurred last week in the central hills a warning for the authorities not to forget responsibilities as they did in the past. 
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake while speaking in Parliament after last year’s floods questioned the authorities who permitted the people to build houses in such disaster-prone areas. It is not clear if he meant that all areas hit this time by floods and landslides were disaster-prone areas. If so, relocating people from all these areas is unimaginable. For example, from Hanwella to Peliyagoda, over a kilometer on either side of the Kelani ganga (river) went under water during the floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah. Is the Government of the view that people from the whole area have to be relocated?
The President stated that nobody would be permitted to build houses in unauthorised places in the future. He also stressed that a programme of reforestation would be launched in areas 5000 feet above the mean sea level, acquiring private lands there, after paying compensation. He also said that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been requested to make a thorough study on the inhabitation in the central hills.
As a follow-up action a discussion held on January 21 at the Presidential Secretariat with representatives from the ADB, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and relevant government and private sector institutions, focusing on securing the Central Highlands and restoring forest plantations. It was emphasised at the meeting that nearly 4,000 landslides have occurred in the central highlands due to Cyclone Ditwah and that prolonged unauthorised construction, cultivation activities and lack of proper maintenance have contributed to this situation. The discussion also stressed the urgent need for a national policy to secure the central highlands and ensure its preservation for future generations.
Representatives from the ADB and the UNDP emphasised the necessity of maintaining a dedicated financial fund for the initiatives to be planned and confirmed their full support to Sri Lanka for the restoration of the central highlands.
It must be recalled that following the 2016 and 2017 floods in the Valleys of Kelani ganga and the Nilwala ganga, the World Bank in a June 2019 press release announced a three-phase investment programme to mitigate flood risks in the lower Kelani basin and improve weather forecasting and early warning systems across Sri Lanka. And it was to be implemented over 8 years with an investment of US Dollar 774 million. Where has that programme gone? 
The World Bank press release points out an important matter which also seems to have forgotten by the relevant authorities. It said “Evidence suggests flood frequency will increase and that nearly 87 percent of Sri Lankans are living in areas likely to experience extreme temperatures and rainfall that will impact their lives.” It must be noted that after the 1957 major floods similar disasters have occurred with 32 years, 27 years and nine years of intervals. Therefore, there is no time to waste. 
For the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the prime constituent party of the ruling National People’s Power (NPP), finding solutions to flooding and landslides cannot be the proverbial monkeys building houses, as these two disasters have been in their party agenda for 61 years since 1965 when the party was formed. They were two major issues discussed in one of their “Five Classes.”

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