The monsoon will soon be with us -are we prepared?

Let us not forget over half of Colombo’s population (more than 50%) lives in shanties, slums, or dilapidated housing

The south west monsoon period will commence during the last week of this month. The rains are of course a necessary part of our agriculture-driven economy and no one wishes the monsoon will bring us less rainfall, especially in the paddy growing areas of the country.

During times the local kings held sway in this country, the boast of one of the more famous kings (Parakramabahu) was that not a single drop of rain should wash away into the sea without benefitting the people of the country. The Parakrama Samudra -the Sea of King Parakrama- as the name indicates is a man-made reservoir with a surface area of 22.6 square kilometers and has a capacity to provide irrigation to around 109,000 acres of agricultural land.
Like the Parakrama Samudra, in Sri Lanka according to SACEP (South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme), an inter-government organisation, there are an estimated 14,200 small tanks or reservoirs located mainly in the dry and intermediate zones of the country. 

These ancient irrigation schemes built during times prior to the European invasions of our country, led to then Ceylon being referred to as the “granary of the East”. This nickname was due to its abundant rice production, which was not only sufficient for the island’s population but also led to surplus for export. 

The island’s fertile land, coupled with advanced irrigation systems and traditional farming practices, contributed to this title. At that time Lanka offered more than 2,000 indigenous varieties of rice to the rest of the world.  

The system of ‘rajakariya’ which helped maintain this irrigation system was abolished by the British colonialists. It led to the filling up of waterways and channels which fed the tanks. The move led to dwindling paddy production and the pauperisation of the peasantry. In turn it led to peasants moving into the cities, the growth of city slums, the buildup of mosquito breeding grounds and the outbreak of the Malaria epidemic.

Today, our country is a net importer of rice. In November 2024 Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Co-operative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe announced that Sri Lanka will import 70,000 metric tonnes of Nadu rice.

During President Chandrika Kumaratunge’s presidency, our present president who served as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation undertook the 10,000 tanks rehabilitation project initiated by the then UPFA government as a means of increasing rice production in the country and cutting dependence on imported rice.

Then Minister Dissanayake stressed there is provision in the law to carry out work without calling for tenders. For example School Development Societies (SDS) can carry out their own development work he said. However, since President Dissanayake and his JVP/NPP government received a 2/3rd majority to rebuild the country, little or nothing has been heard of any renewed efforts to renovate our irrigation tanks or draw up plans to avoid flooding in the capital and its environs using such low cost measures. 

As we mentioned earlier, soon the monsoon season will be with us. Presently pre-monsoon rains are affecting large numbers of families who live in unauthorised structures which dot the city. Sadly our Disaster Management Centre has not received definitive figures of the numbers of homes which went under water during the past two weeks.
The affected people form the backbone of the support the JVP/NPP received during the presidential and parliamentary election. The sizable drop in support government received at the local government elections is a reflection of government’s inability to not only lower the cost of living but also the pent up anger of those forced to abandon their flood-hit homes.

Let us not forget over half of Colombo’s population (more than 50%) lives in shanties, slums, or dilapidated housing. While many have been relocated to high rise buildings, a majority still remain in flood prone areas.

Within the next two weeks the monsoon rains will strike the country in all its fury. Government needs to not only prepare shelters to meet this eventuality. It needs to look at long-term solutions to stop the migration from the countryside to urban areas.