Ceylon Today Editorial

Let us pray for peace and harmony with nature

26 December 2016

President Maithripala Sirisena urged all Catholic Bishops in the country to pray for rain to get rid of the prevailing drought situation in the country when he participated at the State Christmas festival held in Negombo last Friday.

The drought situation has worsened in several parts in the country forcing people, particularly the farmers to hold prayers in the places of worship. A special prayer was held in a temple in Jaffna where the farmers had cooked milk rice and offered to the deities to bless them with rain.

If the drought situation continues, the prices of rice and vegetables are expected to escalate manifold next year. So the Head of State who generally speaks on peace and reconciliation and on political matters has made a fervent appeal at the State Christmas festival in Negombo to pray for the much needed rain.

The climatic conditions are changing rapidly in various parts in the world. A couple of weeks ago the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai in South India was devastated by cyclone Vartha. The cyclone had uprooted a countless number of trees which were more than fifty years old.

The Northern and Eastern Provinces were in a tensed state when the Meteorological Department alerted over cyclone Vartha. But fortunately the terrific cyclone which had passed the Bay of Bengal didn't touch the coastal areas of the North and the East. In the backdrop President Sirisena urging to pray for rain, it is important to remember the massive destruction due to the 'Boxing day' tsunami which devastated the coastal areas of Sri Lanka twelve years ago on 26 December 2004.

The massive natural disaster causing a massive loss of human lives in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and in the coastal belt of down south in the Island had emphasized to the countrymen to be alert on the incidence of natural calamities and even led to the creation of a Disaster Management Centre in the country.

As a result of the long-drawn-out civil strife in the country, the natural resources were neglected in a big way. The deforestation not only in the lower areas, but even in the hill country region continues unabated threatening the forest cover of the country. Recent reports from the North and the East have indicated that several coastal areas in the two provinces have been threatened with acute sea erosion.

Sea waters have entered into several hamlets particularly in the South East areas threatening the coastal hamlets such as Pottuvil and Oluvil. In the recent past the civilians from several coastal villages in the Eastern Province were forced to become internally displaced due to rough sea waves infiltrating deep into the inland areas.

Civilians affected by the sea erosion in the East had even staged demonstrations in the recent past highlighting their plight and urging their Parliamentarians to take proper action to save their places from sea erosion. Therefore proper strategies should be in place to protect the Island from all sorts of natural calamities.The Disaster Management Ministry should actively workout plans to strengthen the precautionary measures to protect the Island instead of running about after the disasters stuck the Island.

By adopting stringent measures deforestation should be stopped introducing effective plans to protect and expand the greenery throughout the country. The environmental experts have warned frequently on the dangers faced by the country due to the negligence of our natural resources.

Action plans should be worked out from grassroot level even to educate the people on the need of safeguarding the Island nation's natural resources. So the President's appeal for payers to have rain, at the State Christmas festival, has outlined the need of the entire country focusing on peace and harmony with nature.