Disaster assessment must for future projects
Hiran H. Senewiratne
*Twenty two types of disaster
identified here
*Reports will help identify land for
projects
The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) will make the Disaster Impact
Assessment (DIA) report compulsory for all future development projects,
Director General Major General Gamini Hettiarachchi said. He said this
system will help identify suitable land for development projects and
will also help to mitigate and prevent disasters to a greater extent.
�Therefore, a national level risk atlas for different hazards in Sri
Lanka will be released on line and off line covering areas where
droughts prevailed, areas prone to landslides and soil erosion.
�The DIA functioning under the Disaster Management and Human Rights
Minister is now finding ways and means to introduce this DIA system in
the future projects with assistance from other bodies,� he said.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) along with Government
bodies and other stakeholders have compiled a National Disaster Data
Base, which also provides information on different vulnerable areas in
the country.
It is said that they have identified 22 types of disasters in Sri
Lanka.
The introduction of the DIA report system will help to identify
suitable lands especially for housing, irrigation and many other
development projects in the country.
DMC is working with the National Institute of Education to
incorporate Disaster Risk Management in the school curriculum, Major
General Hettiarachchi said.
He said that the forthcoming National Symposium on �Promoting
Knowledge Transfer to Strengthen Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate
Change Adaptation� will be an excellent annual event for academics,
researchers, professionals and Government officials to present research
papers on disaster management. The event will be held from July 6 to 8
at the BMICH.
UNDP Assistant Resident Representative Dr Ananda Mallawatantri said
the purpose of this symposium is to prepare people to face future
disasters and adapt them for such disaster. One of the important
features of this event is to highlight climate change and how to adapt
Sri Lankan people to the climate change, he said.
He said we have already seen a high intensity of rain fall,
increasing of floods and landslides and long drought periods affecting
the agriculture and plantation sector in the country.
This symposium will be the first ever event bringing disaster
management related research into one place. This will also help Sri
Lanka to plan and adapt to disasters, he said. |
