Kandy’s Sword of Damocles

Donald NUGAWELA

Geologists and Geo-Technical Specialists warn that Kandy is in danger of being buried under landslides originating from the upper slopes of the city. They also contend that the upper reaches of the lake identified, as the upper lake region and the Dharmaraja Hill would trigger landslides due to loose soil formation.

Heavy rain of an unprecedented scale which fell end December 2010 and to the better part of January this year is given as one of the reasons for the predicted landslides. Yet Kandy does receive rainfall round the year so there could be other reasons as well for the soil disturbances. I recall the destructive floods following several days of pelting rain in 1947.

Destruction caused by landslide. File photo

It is on record that it was the worst that Kandy and the suburbs suffered. The Mahaweli overflowed its banks in several areas and the worst affected was Getembe, Lewella, Peradeniya - Gannoruwa and Katugastota to name a few. I was a senior student then and together with my batch mates we undertook flood relief for several days in the low-lying areas of Katugastota. Yet despite the unrelenting rain we did not hear of any major landslides occurring in any part of the Central Province, let alone in Kandy or its suburbs.

Colonial times

Kandy nestles in a valley girdled by the Mahaweli. The city was carved out of the surrounding hills and was planned and improved during colonial times. One believes that the Engineers and Planners of those times were spot on when they left the upper slopes within the Municipal limits undisturbed for the very reasons that have now surfaced to cause so much of alarm.

These terrains remained undisturbed for more than a century or more until recent times when with no checks and balances in place it was opened for investors, home-builders and building contractors to lay waste a virgin area. They moved in and disturbed the soil in the crudest possible manner, and wittingly or unwittingly paved the way for the inevitable landslides that happened with devastating results for those living at Peradeniya town and several other areas in recent times.

An irate senior citizen told me recently that there are over 200 identified unlawful buildings in Kandy. He wondered how many more would remain unidentified possibly on the upper regions. He was strong in condemning the Municipal authorities for their lack of foresight and for having sold Kandy down the drain by playing political games with nature when common sense should have prevailed.

Love for nature

I was asked to go and see what they had done to the upper lake road environment. I did go and was appalled at what I saw.

This region which is now raising so much of concerns was in the past a quiet and tranquil area. It was home to many of Kandy’s distinguished citizens who led quiet and sequestered lives with nature on their doorsteps. It is in turmoil today. The Wace Park which had in days of yore hosted many a romance to grow and bloom was not quite the same though I thought it was an oasis amidst the chaos around it.

I sorely missed the magical solitude of the entire length and breadth of an area I knew as the upper lake road. I looked in vain for those banks of ferns and wild flower blossoms and the Morning Glory creepers with their bright flowers and for those tiny rivulets that flowed incessantly coming out from nowhere and flowing into nowhere.

It all had vanished, stolen by people with scant respect and love for nature. It was the ugly face of disorder, dirt and litter, with untidy buildings in every available space that had replaced nature.

It was no small wonder that a school of recent origin was facing landslides, and now with the alarm out for further landslides in this region it angered me that Hillwood, the school where I as a five year old learnt to trace ABC in a sandbox is in danger of being buried by the upper slopes. The school has stood undisturbed for over a hundred years surrounded by nature and encased comfortably in a benign hill. It is unthinkable that it should be in danger due to the greed and selfishness of a few. The many I spoke with were unanimous that it is political expediencies that have led to such disasters. And now ominously landslides threaten the very existence of areas that were peaceful and stable. When we speak glibly of man-made disasters let us also remember that nature though kind and benevolent could also be cruelly devastating.