'Road Map' aims to create effective DRM strategy

Chesmal Siriwardhana

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka, over the past few years has seen a substantial increase in disaster related losses. These various kinds of disasters has caused an extensive loss of population and economical damage that reversed years of development gains.

Sri Lanka is prone to natural disasters caused by floods, cyclones, landslides, drought and coastal erosion. Also localized hazards including lightning strikes, epidemics, effects of environmental pollution, earthquakes cause frequent disasters in the country.

Human-induced hazards resulting from deforestation, indiscriminate coral, sand and gem mining and industrial pollutants also plays a hand in causing various disasters. The devastating tsunami that hit Sri Lanka in December, 2004 highlighted that the country is also vulnerable to low-frequency, high-impact events and the overall inability to deal with such situations.

Given the fact that Sri Lanka has a wide geographical variation in its territory and fluctuating weather patterns, hazard vulnerability is always high in the island. Major floods are associated with the two monsoon seasons while landslides are caused by typical landform, geology, deforestation and unplanned land usage.

Droughts affect south-eastern, north-central and north-western areas of Sri Lanka, mainly due to low rainfall during monsoons. In 2004, these parts of the country was affected by a severe drought condition which had negative impact on existing vulnerabilities. Hydropower generation, the main source of energy in Sri Lanka undergoes major setbacks due to droughts and this in turn has crippling effects on economy.

The eastern and north-eastern parts of the island are highly vulnerable to cyclones during the months of November and December. Coastal erosion, mainly felt in the west, south-west and southern coastal belts, severely affects infrastructure facilities such as railway, road system, communications and others in these areas.

In 2004, the tragic tsunami that hit Sri Lanka and other countries caused a huge destruction and total chaos with thousands of lives getting lost. The country was totally unprepared for such a situation and it was a miracle that the whole country did not collapse by the sheer pressure of the event.

This unfortunate and unexpected disaster brought about a collective recognition among the Sri Lankan government, civil society organizations and international agencies of the need for comprehensive disaster risk management, rather than the usual post-disaster relief or better response mechanisms for the country. Creating the political and social will to manage disaster risks before the occurrence of a disaster event continues to be a great challenge.

The Sri Lankan government has taken several significant steps to strengthen legislative and institutional arrangements for disaster risk management during recent times. The Sri Lankan Parliament Select Committee on Natural Disasters was established to deliberate on issues related to disaster risk management in the country.

In May 2005, the Sri Lanka Disaster Management Act No. 13 of 2005 was enacted, which provides the legal basis for instituting a Disaster Risk Management(DRM) system in the country. This act also establishes the National Council for Disaster Management (NCDM). The Ministry of Disaster Management was established in November, 2005.

It plays the lead role in directing the strategic planning process for disaster response, risk mitigation, preparedness planning and risk reduction. The Disaster Management Centre(DMC) has been established as per the Act as the lead agency for disaster risk management in the country.

The Ministry of Disaster Management's proposed "Road Map", is a framework to identify, coordinate and unify the efforts of all agencies working in various sectors across all regions and levels of development activity in the next 10 years.

Through several thematic components which will encompass ongoing and past activities in the disaster management in the country, "Road Map" aims to create an effective DRM strategy for Sri Lanka.