Minimising national disasters

Floods and accompanying earthslips have taken a heavy toll once again with many houses buried and several deaths reported in the hill country in the latest disaster. These earthslips have been a recurrent phenomenon over the years and there appears to no ready solution yet devised to minimise the damage as the casualty figures keep on mounting each time.

In most instances whole families get wiped out by earthslips and landslides with the State having to bear the costs of their last rites and other compensation. This is indeed a pathetic situation that calls for a carefully thought out action plan that would mitigate the situation. What is needed is a long-term solution that would stand the test of time.

It is no doubt a difficult situation to confront since there is no concrete remedy yet devised to counter natural disasters. Even other more advanced States are grappling with the problem of natural disasters that can cause a severe set back to their economies. We witnessed the devastation caused by the recent floods in Pakistan where over 20 million people (equal to Sri Lanka’s population) were affected.

The US is still recovering from cyclone Katrina that took hundreds of lives and devastated large areas. Australia is still reeling from the massive floods in Queensland that has cause large-scale destruction. Therefore there can be no man made solution against natural disaster. What could be done though is devise ways to minimise their effects and lessen the destruction. Sri Lanka too should think in such terms of minimising the damage caused by natural disasters such as floods and earthslips.

One such way is to preserve the right ecological balance. This is where we have been found wanting in recent times. Today there is large-scale destruction of our natural environment. There is unchecked destruction of forests, illegal sand mining and large-scale removal of soil all of which have cumulatively affected the ecological balance leading to natural disasters such as floods and earthslips.

Most of the people residing in landslide prone areas are poor peasants who have no choice other than to live under constant risk not being in a position to relocate elsewhere due to poverty. A majority of them are squatters who are impervious to the risk and content to live under any condition.

According to Geologists the main reason for the increasing incidents of earthslips is the callous disregard towards the environment. Here too the increasing encroachment of land reservations and resultant damage caused to the soil not to mention the destruction of virgin forests have been cited as the chief reason for landslides and similar disasters that are frequent occurrences today.

Sometime ago the Building Research Organization had after an extensive survey identified earthslip prone areas and with the aid of maps warned the residents within the high risk zone to evacuate such spots. How much this advice was heeded could be judged by the increasing number of casualties and damage to homes caused by the latest landslides especially at a time land has become a premium in this country with the rise in population and development demands.

In countries such as Japan and Indonesia which are greatly vulnerable to natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis there are clearly identified disaster zones which have been depopulated. We too should think of having such No Go zones by demarcating all earthslip risk areas in the country and free such areas of human habitation as an initial step to avert tragedy.

In the meantime the Disaster Management Ministry should make a better effort to apprise the public of the dangers inherent in occupying these earthslip prone areas and persuade them to vacate such spots. As mentioned most of these risk areas are occupied by squatters with the blessings of politicians. This no doubt will be a hindrance to any campaign by the Disaster Management Ministry to prevail on them to quit these areas. As such ruling party politicians should not encourage their supporters to encroach on such lands that could only spell calamity.

It is not only with regard to landslides and earthslips there is also a need to take meaningful measures to contain the recurrent floods that now seem to be the order of the day. Here too it is the folly of man that has led to the spate of flood disasters that we now encounter all too frequently. Flood retention land is being filled at a rapid pace in the name of development today and there is also a large scale denuding of coconut plantations for housing projects all of which have contributed to the phenomenon.

Unless concrete steps are taken to address this situation Sri Lanka too will very soon be among the countries such as Bangladesh which are notorious for cataclysmic flood disasters putting paid to the Governments development plans for the country. Hence an immediate solution is needed to mitigate natural disasters that could negatively impact on development and the country’s economy at this crucial stage.