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by Dickson Nettikumarage

A sad spectacle left behind by the tsunami - REUTERS

The 'tsunami' episode' is one of the most significant landmarks in the history of Sri Lanka. It provides us with many lessons as to 'what should have been done' and 'what should not have been done'.

At the present time a unique situation exists in terms of the commitment expressed by the Government, the private sector, local authorities, international agencies and the donor countries to support Sri Lanka in its effort to revive the country and place it on a strong development foundation towards a sustainable development.

In this context, I wish to focus attention to develop some guidelines for the physical planning and development of the country in general and affected areas in particular, based on the 'tsunami' experience.

As we all know, Sri Lanka has a fragile coastline. Every year during the monsoon periods our beaches are getting washed away affecting many settlements in the coastline including the coastal roads and even the railway line.

The Coast Conservation Department is vested with powers to define a setback zone from the high water mark of the coastline within which no structures are permitted.

Urban Development Authority has also declared a desistance of one kilometer from the coastline, under Section 3 of the UDA Law which provides them legal powers to regulate development within the coastal belt. These measures have been taken after having recognized the need to protect the fragile coastline and to protect human settlements.

'Tsunami' is a bitter lesson not only for the people who violated the legal requirements and constructed their houses and other development activities including hotels within the coastal reservation but also for the regulatory authorities who did not strictly enforce the law.

The present time is most opportune for us to think of a vision for the future, based on this experience and also to consider an environmentally sustainable development strategy with a firm commitment to take the country forward at an accelerated phase.

A clear demarcation of an exclusive coastal zone, is necessary, which should include the areas abutting the sea and would be vulnerable to sea erosion seasonally as well as to wave action similar to or even worse than the 'tsunami' episode.

A clear demarcation of the areas affected by the impact of 'tsunami' on a detailed map of Sri Lanka and the determination of the setback zone from the high watermark of the sea based on different criteria such as the stability of the soil, environmental characteristics, activities utilizing the sea shore such as port/harbour related activities, fishing and fishery harbours, recreational activities for tourists etc.

The Coastal Zone so defined should be free of all man made structures except those connected to the harbour, fisheries development and recreation for tourism (excluding hotels and other permanent structures).

The hotel and tourism based activities which have been partly damaged by tsunami may be allowed to repair and reconstruct their structures as the Government should ensure the recovery of the tourism plant which plays an important role not only in the generation of foreign exchange for the country, but also in the mobilization of local resources and generation of employment. However, this should not apply to any new constructions.

In regard to fisheries settlements too it has to be mentioned that the temporary fisheries housing which was seriously affected by the tsunami may be allowed to reconstruct their temporary housing in the short-term as these communities should be allowed to recover from the serious setback they received from tsunami. However, any new permanent housing for the affected fishing families should not be permitted in the vulnerable coastal zone.

This railway line should be located with a minimum of 300 meter setback from the coastline. It should be of higher standard than the present one and should be extended to Kataragama and also capable of achieving higher speeds. In the planning of the railway line, its possible electrification in the future should be taken into consideration.

A service road, perpendicular to the railway line on the land side similar to the present Galle road would be needed to link up with the internal road network serving the urban centers. The present Galle road where it is substantially away from the coastline could serve this purpose for certain stretches of the corridor. The proposed road will not have any level - crossings as it will go parallel to the railway line.

The proposed Southern highway is to be located about 10 km. to the interior of the present Matara road. The central place activities of the existing towns located along the sea coast with access from the present Colombo-Matara road should be shifted further landwards and the corridor between the proposed Southern highway (parallel service road) and the proposed coastal road (running parallel to the railway line) be utilized as the development corridor for the location of urban service activities. Any existing buildings which were not affected by tsunami may continue to exist in the short-term.

New townships

The above development process would give rise to the creation of a series of new towns along the development corridor. The preservation of natural amenities including water bodies, wetland eco-systems etc should be taken into consideration in the planning of the corridor area. Fisheries housing, tourist hotels etc be developed in close proximity to the railway line on the land side with easy access to the beach.

Attractive overhead bridges could be provided at appropriate locations to enable the people to cross over to the beach. The commercially oriented activities have to be located closer to the parallel road while economic and service activities and public buildings, which consume large spaces should be located closer to the service road to the Southern Expressway. Large space consuming industries, parks, playgrounds and stadia and institutions of higher education, hospital complexes are also recommended to be located farther to the inland and closer to the parallel access road to the southern highway.

Housing has to be developed in clusters within reasonable distance to the service centers and places of work. It is recommended that middle income housing be located more towards the periphery, in the easterly direction of the development corridor.

The 10km wide development corridor should be provided with adequate infrastructure facilities to support the new settlement structures and economic activities.

This development corridor could be extended to Tissamaharama or Kataragama. The intensity of development however can be reduced based on the population density, economic activities, including the existence of agriculture and environmentally sensitive areas.

The area for Kataragama to Pottuvil consists mainly of the Yala Wildlife Sanctuary which has to be maintained as a conservation area.

The development corridor concept cannot be applied to the eastern section of the coastal belt due to the nature of the fragile coastline consisting of discontinuous land forms, estuaries, landspits and cliffs as well as paddy fields and low-lying areas which contain many isolated settlement structures.

In order to link these settlements with the national road network and regional centres, they have to be connected to a higher level service centres to be located along an improved roadway. Following road links could be identified to form a regional roadway to which the existing isolated settlements could be directly linked.

(i) Existing A25 Siyambalanduwa-Ampara Road,

(ii) Existing A27, Ampara-Uhana-Maha Oya Road,

(iii) A new road connection has to be provided from Maha Oya to Manampitiya.

(iv) New road connections have to be provided from Manampitiya to Kantale and Kantale to Horowpathana.

The development and improvement of the above road links will compete the spatial connectivity of the south eastern, and northern provinces.

The following will form the new regional and sub-regional centres and integrate the isolated village structures.

Regional centres:

(i) Badulla

(ii) Polonnaruwa

(iii) Vavuniya

On the basis of the above mentioned road links, the following sub-regional centres would come into existence:

(i) Siyambalanduwa

(ii) Ampara

(iii) Mahaoya

(iv) Manampitiya

(v) Kantale

(vi) Horowpathana

(vii) Oddusudan

These sub-regional centres which provide direct improved road connections to be isolated underserved settlements located along the coastal belt such as Akkaraipattu, Kalawanchikudi, Kathiraveli, Seruwila, Muttur etc. so that they could be served not only during an emergency such as tsunami but also in a normal situation by providing a good market for their produce such as fishing.

The section from Pooneryn to Mannar is served by A32 Navathkuli-Pooneryn-Mannar Road which is located reasonably away from the coast. Adherence to the coastal reservation stipulated by the Coast Conservation Department would be adequate. The area from Mannar to Puttalam basically consists of the Wilpattu Wild Life Sanctuary and forest areas which should be preserved and protected.

The section from Puttalam to Colombo is adequately served by roads and railway. There is land available for development. There are many opportunities for further development of the North-West Province particularly in the agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries sectors as well as in tourism. Due to its proximity to the Colombo Metropolitan Region, its produce could be marketed with an advantage to the Colombo region. However improvement to the internal infrastructure would be needed.

Within the coastal areas of this section particularly from Kochchikade to Ja Ela, attention has to be paid to the development activities located in close proximity to the beach and within Muthurajawela wetland area. Most of the residential areas as well as hotels bordering the sea coast is subject to erosion during the South West monsoons and it is essential that all development activities be shifted from the beach areas towards the Colombo-Negombo Road.

As the present Colombo-Negombo highway has already been improved and a new expressway is proposed along the coast additional roads may not be required, other than improvements to the existing network.

The self-confidence gained with tsunami should be mobilised to accelerate other national and regional projects. Some of these projects are:

(a) Development of Hambantota as an industrial port and a new township

(b) Norichcholai coal power plant

(c) Other hydro-power plants which are in the pipeline

(d) Major water supply development projects which have already been identified

(e) Major highway development projects which have already been identified such as the Colombo-Kandy Expressway, Colombo Outer Circular Road, Southern Expressway and its continuation to Kataragama

(f) Implementation of the main recommendation of the CESMA Plan (plan prepared by a group of Singapore planning consultants in association with Sri Lankan Planners) in regard to the development of the Colombo Metropolitan Region.

Other recommendations:

(i) Decision-making process in regard to land identification, acquisition, alienation and resource allocation should be streamlined to overcome time consuming procedures.

(ii) Enhance and promote private sector participation in development, subject to guidelines and parameters determined by the government.

(iii) Services of professional groups covering the sectors of urban planning, architecture, engineering, land surveying and valuation be mobilised to assist in the task of rebuilding the country.

(The writer is a Planning Consultant in a Basic Social Infrastructure Development Project, funded by the ADB.)

***

Clarification

Reference our lead story on February 23, titled `Colossus of the newspaper world', we wish to clarify that the article was written by Nelson S. Perera, Editor, 'Budusarana'. His name was omitted by an oversight.

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