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| Wednesday, 10 March 2004 |
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A drought of action by Tharuka Dissanaike A cold blast of reality hit the residents of Colombo last week as their taps ran dry. Drought, all this time, was a rural problem. Something that happened in far away Hambantota to poor, rain-dependent farmers who eked out a bare existence from parched land. But suddenly, drought was upon Colombo. The water of the Kelani ran so low that sea water gushed in- all the way to Ambatale, where some eight to10 million gallons of water is extracted daily from the river for the use of Colombo and its suburbs. When the pumps stopped, so did the water supply to a huge urban population, topping two million. With the sweltering heat of March upon us, the water supply system could not have found a worse time to malfunction. This raises several pertinent issues. The Water Board concedes that this problem is not a new one. Salt water intrusion into the Kelani river was first noted eight years ago. The city's vulnerability to this phenomenon was considered a serious problem and aid was sought to barricade the mouth of the river against sea intrusion. The ADB has already pledged some fantastic sum of money to erect an inflatable barrage across the river mouth at Crow Island. Despite realizing the grave need and even procuring the money for it, the barrage is yet to be built. Typically Sri Lankan, one is tempted to comment. The next issue is that the drought did not occur suddenly. As far back as early January, weather pundits have been warning of a severe and prolonged drought this year. A failed north-east monsoon has exacerbated the drought conditions in the dry zone during a period which is normally rainy. Anuradhapura town is facing a severe water shortage as tanks run dry. Anyway, the point here is that all these signs alerted the Water Supply Authorities to a possible shortage. They knew very well that the river would run low in Colombo and the possibility of salt water intrusion would be high as weather continued to be dry. Under these conditions, it is surprising that the Board did not consider supply alternatives and monitor water levels so that prior warning could have been issued to hapless Colombo residents and workers. A brutally sudden discontinuation of water supply is the worst shock to an urban populace, who are left totally to their own devices to overcome this shortage. If I remember correctly, there was even a drought mitigation committee appointed by the President to look in to the implications of a prolonged dry spell this year. It would be interesting to know if they looked at this problem, and what their suggestions were. It is hard to imagine now, that last year was quite a wet year. Last May the country saw the worst floods and landslides in some 50 years wreak havoc in the wet zone- the very area that is today panting for more water. Extreme fluctuations of weather are not a new phenomena, but the frequency with which such fluctuations occur these days is certainly of recent origin. Some experts link the increase in weather-related disasters to global warming and atmospheric pollution. But looking at the problem locally, a lot of it ties up with increased deforestation and human activity in previously forested mountains in the upper river catchments. The wet zone of Sri Lanka contains some of the most densely populated districts. The entire coastal belt from Chilaw to Matara is the most dense stretch of human habitation in the country. More importantly, in the interior of the wetzone, rapid colonization of previously forested or plantation-owned land has lent greatly to the problem of shrinking forest cover and the threat of landslides. Last year's landslide disasters in the lower slopes of Deniyaya, Hiniduma, Ratnapura and Rakwana were mostly due people's careless forest clearing, habitation and agriculture in unsuited lands. If you take a forest map of Sri Lanka you would only find a few scattered blobs of green in the area identified as the wet zone. Yet, ironically our major rivers rise out of this very area and are fed by a plethora of small waterways on their journey to the sea. The Kelani river and the Kalu ganga both traverse through lush areas which abounded in tropical forest some time ago, but has since been subjected a severe human exploitation. Many small rivulets that used to feed in to these rivers had dried up or been diverted. The programme to protect upper watershed areas has reportedly been quite successful in trying to educate people against practices that erode top soil and degrade forests. But more has to be done to protect those few little blobs of green on the map- and hopefully add some more in the future. We need better policy direction and better politicians and bureaucrats to follow this policy. |
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