Ceylon Today Editorial

Inclement weather

07 November 2016

With the onset of the present inclement weather condition in the country, the Disaster Management Center (DMC) has issued a warning to the people in the hill country and coastal areas to be on the alert for earth slips, rough seas, floods and lightning strikes.

Six people have already been hospitalized with injuries following an earth slip in the Nuwara Eliya District, according to Police sources. The DMC has announced that 30 persons belonging to 16 families, from areas prone to earth slips and floods in Gonapitiya and Hanguranketha, in the Kandy District, have been relocated to safer places. The DMC has also alerted the Galle, Matara, Ratnapura and Kalutara Districts.

According to reports from the Northern and Eastern Provinces, several areas have been threatened by floods and lightening. The DMC has had to face an arduous task in recent years following earth slips in the hill country area. The earth slip in Meerayabedda, two years ago, in 2014, had led to a huge catastrophe, where dozens were killed and several hundred people rendered homeless.

The DMC which is closely monitoring the situation, in coordination with the Meteorological Department and the Government Agents of regions affected by the inclement weather condition, has identified the areas which could be disastrous in the event of earth slips.

Right from its inception, the DMC has been on the watch for natural calamities and has issued prior warnings to prevent human casualties. However, the ignorance and negligence on the part of civilians, has led to disastrous consequences.

Thus, the constant monitoring of the weather pattern, by government agencies, becomes the need of the hour and is inevitable. Apart from the announcements, made by the DMC, alerting the public on the flash floods and earth slips, warnings have also been issued on heavy misty conditions in the hill country area. So, the motorists are compelled to be extra cautious in the mountainous areas.

According to the Meteorological Department, 100mm showers are expected in the Western, Central and Sabaragamuwa Provinces. In the North, rains and thundershowers have been indicated in Mannar. Several areas in the Eastern Province have been inundated due to heavy showers. The DMC has also warned the fisherfolk islandwide over the low pressure zone, which is emerging about 1,000 km away from the North-Eastern area.

As far as Colombo and the suburbs are concerned, heavy showers and flash floods had created enormous problems in the recent years, compelling proper management of the drainage and canal system in the capital. Compared to the adverse conditions, which occur due to natural disasters, Sri Lanka remains very much less affected compared to other countries in South Asia.

The timely warning issued by the DMC should be given due consideration and all government agencies should be put on alert to adopt precautionary measures in the best interest of the innocent civilians.

Meanwhile, reports from the Northern and Eastern Provinces have outlined the pathetic state of the Internally Displaced Persons, who are still living under difficult conditions, in their makeshift shelters, due to rainy weather condition. The government should also focus on the welfare of the IDPs and efforts must be made to expedite resettlement in their original places.

The government has released lands and new houses have also been built in the Northern Province to resettle the IDPs. However, a large number of IDPs are still living under pathetic conditions, particularly when the North and East monsoon escalates. The DMC and other government agencies, at this juncture, should ensure that the people, who had become IDPs due to separatist war, should not continue to remain so due to the inclement weather condition.