'Natural disasters cause greater loss to lives than armed conflicts'

Indika POLKOTUWA

Natural disasters had caused a greater loss of lives globally than armed conflicts during the last decade, said Emeritus Prof. C. M. Maddumabandara, a former Vice Chancellor of the Peradeniya University.

An increasing number of natural disasters are recorded annually forcing Governments to spend vast sums of money to rectify their socio-economic and environmental damage, he said.

Prof. Maddumabandara was delivering the inaugural address at a two-day workshop on 'Natural Disaster Management' which began at the Hotel Topaz Kandy on Wednesday.

The workshop was jointly organised by the Peradeniya University's Post Graduate Institute of Science, Disaster Management Ministry and the Kandy District Secretariat.

Maddumbandara said floods and drought were the most common natural disasters affecting Sri Lanka.

The damage caused by them during the last few decades was immense.

Global warming and resultant climate changes were the main causes of the greater number of natural disasters in the world today.

The highest daily temperature in Sri Lanka is mostly recorded in Anuradhapura while the temperature in Nuwara Eliya which normally has a cold climate had shown a tendency to increase compared to previous years.

He said Vavuniya and surrounding areas would receive a higher rainfall resulting in floods in the region due to extreme climatic conditions.

Prof. Kapila Dahanayake of the Peradeniya University Geography Department, said the rainfall was the main cause of landslides. Today human activity too had come to play in this calamity.

Kandy District Secretary Gotabhaya Jayaratne, Disaster Management Centre Director Maj. Gen. Gamini Hettiarachchi and Peradeniya University Deputy Vice Chancellor Anura Wickremasinghe also spoke.