The Democratic Socialist Republic of

Sri Lanka
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

STATUS OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Final Report for the Visiting Researcher Programe Year 2010
Prepared By

Mr. Dinesh Hemachandra
Scientist to the National Building Research Organisation
Ministry of Disaster Management
JULY 2010

IndexAcknowledgement
01. General Information of Sri Lanka
01.1. Background Information
01.2. Geographical Information
01.3. Culture of Sri Lanka
01.4. History Information
01.5. Present Government Information
01.6. Administrative Information
01.7. Sri Lanka Economy
01.8. Weather and Climate
01.8.1. Climate Change
01.8.1.1 Present and Future Perspective of Sri Lanka
01.8.1.2 Rain Fall Change
01.8.1.3 Temperature Change
01.8.1.4 Impacts Due to Increased Sea Level
01.8.1.5 Response Strategies to Minimize the Vulnerability
02. Natural Disasters in Sri Lanka
02.1. Disasters in Sri Lanka and the History
02.2. Floods
02.3. Landslides
02.4. Cyclones
02.5. Droughts
02.6. Sea Erosion
02.7. Tsunami
03. Current Disaster Risk Management in Sri Lanka
03.1. Legal System
03.2. Disaster management Act
03.3. Functions of the National Council for Disaster Management (NCDM)
03.4. Functions of Disaster Management Centre (DMC)
03.5. Government Structure of Disaster Management
03.5.1. Institutional Roles
03.5.2. The Role of Volunteers and Non-Governmental Organizations for
Disaster Preparedness and Relief

03.6. Proposed National Disaster management Plan (NDMP)
03.6.1 Activities of the Proposed Plan
04. Latest Disaster Information of Sri Lanka
04.1. Flood Situation Sri Lanka– May 201004.2. Landslides and Rock Falls Occurred
Nuwara Eliya District in year 2007

04.3. Tsunami Disaster 26th December 2004
04.4. Flood and Landslides – May 2003
04.4.1. Assistance received by government of Sri Lanka
05. Countermeasures and International commitment for Disaster Reduction in Sri Lanka
05.1. Road map for a Safer Sri Lanka
05.2. Flood Mitigation
05.3. Landslide Mitigation
05.4. Transition Recovery Support to Flood and Landslides Disasters in Sri Lanka
05.5. Drought Mitigation
05.6. Disaster Risk Information Management
05.7. Sri Lanka Urban Multi-hazard Disaster
Mitigation Project (SLUMDMP)

Annexure
Annexure I
Annexure II
Annexure III: Map of Sri Lanka: The Historical Floods for Colombo: Allocated Funds for D. Relief 1981-2005

Annexure IV: Sri Lanka Disaster Management Act.

Annexure V
Annexure VI: Organization Structure for DMC: Formation of Ministries (Gazette Notification)

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

1Acknowledgement
I am Dinesh Hemachandra, a Geologist at National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) in Sri
Lanka. I am here as a visiting researcher at Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) in Kobe.
First of all I would like to thank the ADRC for giving this opportunity to Sri Lanka. My sincere
gratitude goes to Hon. M. Fowzie (Minister of Disaster Management Ministry), Ms. S.M Mohamed(Secretary of Disaster Management Ministry), Mr. W.B.J. Fernando (Director General of NBRO) of
Sri Lanka for giving me this opportunity. It sure helped to improve my disaster management skills
and better serve my country.
I extend my special thanks to Mr. A. Koresawa (Executive Director of ADRC) who guided me with hiskind cooperation. Ms. Miki Kodama (Senior Researcher) who supervised me and coordinatedseveral programs and also Mr. Makoto Ikeda (Researcher) who supervised and gave Geographical
Information System (GIS) knowledge to me during the program. My heartiest thanks to other staff
members of ADRC, they gave valuable information and encouraged me in many ways during mystay at in Japan.
I also would like to thank Professor Hiroshi Fukuoka at Research Center on Landslide, University of
Kyoto, who educated me with innovative research methodologies of research on landslide risk
reduction. I would definitely like to bring these ideas for the betterment of research activities back in
Sri Lanaka.
Many thanks to Mr. R.M.S. Bandara at NBRO, Head of the Landslide Studies & Services Division,
Ms. Neetha Wijegunawardana, Head of the Administration Division and Ms. Sardhanee Dias, Senior
Scientist at the Environment Division and all my staff members at NBRO. I gratefully appreciate their
help given to make this journey a success.
Ms. Ishanthi Buddhini, Additional Secretary, of the Ministry of Disaster Management, and staff
members have arranged and coordinated my documents during the early staged to come ADRC. I
would like to thank them for their timely help. Without their help, the processes couldn‟t have beenmuch smooth.
And I am thankful to Mr. Pradeep Koddipile, who was a previous Visiting Researcher (in 2009) for
giving me information regarding program of ADRC and prepared me to the life in Japan.
Last but not the least, I would like thank to one of my best friend, Mr. Chammika Mannakara, of
National Institute of Informatics in Tokyo for his encouragements throughout the program in ADRC.

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01．General Information of Sri Lanka

01.1 Background Information
Country name:conventional long form:
conventional short form:
former:Government type
CapitalAdministrative divisions

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Serendib, Ceylon
Republic
Colombo; note - Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte is thelegislative capital
8 provinces; Central, North Central, North Eastern, North
Western, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Western; note North Eastern province may have been divided in two Northern and Eastern

Independence:
National holiday:
Constitution:
Legal system:

4 February 1948 (from UK)
Independence Day, 4 February (1948)
adopted 16 August 1978
a highly complex mixture of English common law, RomanDutch, Muslim, Sinhalese, and customary law; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage:
Executive branch:
Head of government:

18 years of age; universal
President Mahinda Rajapaksha (since 22 December2005); Ratnasiri Wickramasingha(since 05 Jan. 2006) is
the prime minister; in Sri Lanka the president is considered
to be both the chief of state and the head of thegovernment, this is in contrast to the more common
practice of dividing the roles between the president andthe prime minister when both offices exist

Legislative branch:

unicameral Parliament (225 seats; members elected bypopular vote on the basis of a modified proportional
representation system by district to serve six-year terms)

Judicial branch:

Supreme Court; Court of Appeals; judges for both courts
are appointed by the president
ADRC, JICA, AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-24, G77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD,

International organization
participation:

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IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer),
OPCW, PCA, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTrO
Flag description:

yellow with two panels; the smaller hoist-side panel has
two equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) and orange;
the other panel is a large dark red rectangle with a yellow
lion holding a sword, and there is a yellow bo leaf in eachcorner; the yellow field appears as a border that goesaround the entire flag and extends between the two panels

Population Growth
GNP at market price
GNP per capita
Languages:
Life expectancy:
Infant mortality:
Rural population:
Urban population:
Under age 15:
Over age 65:
Labour Force Participation
Rate (percent)
Unemployment Rate
(percent)

1.3%
Rs.1,737bn US$ 18 bn
Rs.90,244
US$ 935
Sinhala, Tamil, English
72.5 years
17 deaths/1,000 live births
78.9% of total
21.1% of total
25% of total
6.9% of total
48.6%
8.3%

01.2.Geographical Information:

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

4The democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Formerly known as Ceylon) comprises
one large island and several islet s, lying east of the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent. The
maximum north- south length of (formerly known the island is 435 km. and its greatest width is 225
km. The Island (including adjacent small islands) covers a land area of 65,610 sq. km. The Bay of
Bengal lies to its north and east and the Arabian Sea to its West. Sri Lanka is separated from India
by the gulf of Manna and the Palk Strait, between which there lies, in very shallow water. Sri Lanka
stretches from 5 dig. 55 min to 9 Dig. 42 Min. to 81 Dig.53 Min. East. Sri Lanka is headed by the
Executive President. Administratively country is sub divided into nine Provincial councils, 25 districts,
and 327 Divisions.

Sri Lanka‟s population of around 19.8 million has an urban rural mix of approximately 30% to 70 %.
Ethnically 75% of population is Sinhalese.

Buddhism is the main religion. Around 69% of the

population are Buddhists and the rest belong to Christianity, Hinduism and Islam
Detailed Map of Sri Lanka is attached here with Annexure No I in PDF

01.3. Culture of Sri Lanka
With the introduction of Buddhism, Pali works Tripitaka, Pali literature came to Ceylon and the
Sinhala language was supplemented with Pali words without much difficulty for the language
spoken by the people here was much similar to Pali. A vast literature in Sinhala derived influenced
by Pali tripitaka. Pali commentaries and other literature brought from India and the Pali works
were translated into Sinhala. With the growth of Mahayana and vast literature in Sanskrit, place ofPali was taken over Sanskrit and the Sinhala language.Really became a mixture of Pali andSanskrit languages Sanskrit literary works as Meghaduta, Ramayana, Maharasrata were studied
and their structure was followed in Sinhala prose and verse.

Aryans when they came to Ceylon brought the system of farming and irrigation but most probably
not a religion nor art, architecture, sculpture, literature etc. All these were introduced with theadvent of Buddhism. Monasteries and temples and other religious edifies were built first of stone

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

5and later of brick and mortar as residences for the bhikkus huge stupas were constructed toenshrine the scared relic of the Buddha and his noble disciples. These religious edifies wereembellished by a rich legacy of sculptural forms. Interior of the Viharas were decorated withimages of the Buddha later with Bodhisattvas, various scenes from Buddha‟s life. With divinities
etc. when you take all these into the account we could say that there Mahinda not only introduced
noblest religion in the world but also a culture of a much advanced form. Introduction of Buddhism
and arrival of Aryans to Sri Lanka not only helped socially but helped to enhanced culture of Sri
Lanka too.

Aryans first introduced the village system government when they arrived in Lanka. According tohistorical sources, Vijay‟s followers established themselves as chiefs of villagers as indicated by
the names Anuradhagama à village of Anradha, Upatissagama à village of Upatissa and so on.
They chief most probably captured the adjuring villages and set themselves as rulers or rajas of
the area. With the introduction of Buddhism these rulers became more humane for they were
expected to rule according to the DasaRajaDhamma – 10 kingly virtues (giving, morality, liberality,straightness, gentleness, self-restriction, non-anger, non-hurtfulness, forbearance and nonopposition. At the beginning kings were not looked upon as gods but ordinary men go=given theleadership to work for the welfare of the people under him according to Buddhist principles.
Thus the main duties of the Rajas were to develop agricultures by building tanks and canals toprotect the people and lands from foreign invaders, plunderers, robbers etc. and also to protect
the religion and build religious edifies and grant land for their upkeep.
Thus Ceylon had a culture based on self-sufficiency. There was actually the barter systemprevailing in ancient Lanka. Only the kings could trade with foreigners and transact m oney.
Farmer gave some of his products to the villages potter, smithy, traders on cloths, fancy goods etc.
in exchange for pots & pans mammoth blades, axes, fancy goods etc. and as such there was noneed for the ordinary man to possess money but he and his family had enough for theirsustenance unlike people of the contemporary medieval Europe and England where the 8 years,
10 years old worked as slaves in the work, house, in coal mines in stables for a mere pittance..

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6This culture based on self sufficiency in Lanka as changed into an export – import oriental
economy based on export crops as team rubber, coconut, cinchona, cinnamon, canbamousetc.
with a damaging influence to sustainable agriculture which declined at a fast rate with the arrivalof the Europeans – Rice was exported and the lands were handed over to the Europeans planters
for a mere pittance as the farmers could not produce the “so – call deeds” for the land theycultivated for the time immemorial. Thus money became the pivotal factor upon which everything
depended. Family relationships, religious practices, ancient customs receded to the backgroundwith a new culture based on money.

Classical Dances of Sri Lanka

(a)

(b)

PhotoS (a), (b), shows the classical dancing of Sri Lanka

The origin of Sri Lankan dances goes back to immemorial times of aboriginal tribes and "yakkas"(devils). According to a Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dances originate, 2500 years ago, from a magic
ritual that broke the spell on a bewitched king.

An ancient chronicle, the Mahavamsa, states that when the culture hero Vijeya landed in Sri Lanka(Ceylon) in 543 BCE, he heard the sounds of music and dancing from a wedding ceremony. Danceis still of paramount importance in Sri Lankan (Sinhala) arts. There are three main styles: theKandyan dance of the hill country, known as uda rata natum; the low country dance of the southern
plains, known as pahatha rata natum; and sabaragamuwa dance, or sabaragamuwa natum.

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©

(d)

Photos (c), (d), shows the Kandyan dancing and kandy Perahara
Kandyan dance takes its name from Kandy, the last royal capital of Ceylon, which is situated about
72 miles (120 kilometers) from the modern capital at Colombo. This genre is today considered theclassical dance of Sri Lanka. In Sanskrit terminology it is considered pure dance (nrtta); it features ahighly developed system of tala (rhythm), provided by cymbals called thalampataa. There are five
distinct types; the ves, naiyandi, uddekki, pantheru, and vannams.


Ves Dance. Ves dance, the most popular, originated from an ancient purification ritual, theKohomba Yakuma or Kohomba Kankariya. The dance was propitiatory, never secular, andperformed only by males. The elaborate ves costume, particularly the headgear, isconsidered sacred and is believed to belong to the deity Kohomba. (See Kohomba
Kankariya and Ves Dance.)Only toward the end of the nineteenth century were ves dancers
first invited to perform outside the precincts of the Kankariya Temple at the annual Kandy
Perahera festival. Today the elaborately costumed ves dancer epitomizes Kandyan dance.
(See Kandy Perahera.)

Uddekki Dance. Uddekki is a very prestigious dance. Its name comes from the uddekki, asmall lacquered hand drum in the shape of an hourglass, about seven and half inches (18centimeters) high, believed to have been given to people by the gods. The two drumskins
are believed to have been given by the god Iswara, and the sound by Visnu; the instrument
is said to have been constructed according to the instructions of Sakra and was played in the

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

8heavenly palace of the gods. It is a very difficult instruments to play. The dancer sings as heplays, tightening the strings to obtain variations of pitch.
Pantheru Dance. The pantheruwa is an instrument dedicated to the goddess Pattini. It
resembles a tambourine (without the skin) and has small cymbals attached at intervals
around its circumference. The dance is said to have originated in the days of Prince
Siddhartha, who became Buddha. The gods were believed to use this instrument tocelebrate victories in war, and Sinhala kings employed pantheru dancers to celebrate
victories in the battlefield. The costume is similar to that of the uddekki dancer, but thepantheru dancer wears no beaded jacket and substitutes a silk handkerchief at the waist for
the elaborate frills of the uddekki dancer.

Naiyandi Dance. Dancers in Naiyandi costume perform during the initial preparations of theKohomba Kankariya festival, during the lighting of the lamps and the preparation of foods for thedemons. The dancer wears a white cloth and white rurban, beadwork decorations on his chest, awaistband, rows of beads around his neck, silver chains, brass shoulder plates, anklets, and jingles.
This is a graceful dance, also performed in Maha Visnu (Vishnu) and Kataragama Devales temples
on ceremonial occasions.

01.4. History Information:

(e)

(f)
Photos (c), (d), shows the Kandyan dancing andkandy Perahara

Figure 01- Historical Places of Sri lanka

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9Recent excavations show that even during the Neolithic Age, there were food gatherers and ricecultivators in Sri Lanka. Very little is known of this period; documented history began with the arrivalof the Aryans from North India. The Aryans introduced the use of iron and an advanced form of
agriculture and irrigation. They also introduced the art of government. Of the Aryan settlements,
Anuradhapura grew into a powerful kingdom under the rule of king Pandukabhaya. According totraditional history he is accepted as the founder of Anuradhapura.

During the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa, a descendent of Pandukabhaya, Buddhism wasintroduced in 247 B.C. by Arahat Mahinda, the son of Emperor Asoka of India. This is the mostimportant event in Sri Lankan history as it set the country on the road to cultural greatness. As a newcivilisation flourished Sri Lanka became rich and prosperous.

In the mid 2nd century B.C. a large part of north Sri Lanka came under the rule of an invader fromSouth India. From the beginning of the Christian era and up to the end of the 4th century A.D. Sri
Lanka was governed by an unbroken dynasty called Lambakarna, which paid great attention to thedevelopment of irrigation. A great king of this dynasty, Mahasen (3rd century A.D.) started theconstruction of large `tanks' or irrigation reservoirs. Another great `tank' builder was Dhatusena, who
was put to death by his son Kasyapa who made Sigiriya a royal city with his fortress capital on thesummit of the rock.

As a result of invasions from South India the kingdom of Anuradhapura fell by the end of the 10th
century A.D. Vijayabahu 1 repulsed the invaders and established his capital at Polonnaruwa in the
11th century A.D. Other great kings of Polonnaruwa were Parakrama Bahu the Great and Nissanka
Malla both of whom adorned the city with numerous buildings of architectural beauty.

Invasion was intermittent and the capital was moved constantly until the Portuguese arrived in 1505,
when the chief city was established at Kotte, in the western lowlands. The Portuguese came to tradein spices but stayed to rule until 1656 in the coastal regions, as did the Dutch thereafter. Dutch rulelasted from 1656 to 1796, in which year they were displaced by the British. During this period thehighland Kingdom, with its capital in Kandy, retained its independence despite repeated assaults by

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

10foreign powers who ruled the rest of the country. In 1815 the kingdom of Kandy was ceded to the
British and thus they established their rule over the whole island. Modern communications, western
medical services, education in English, as well as the plantation industry (first coffee then tea, rubberand coconut) developed during British rule. By a process of peaceful, constitutional evolution, Sri
Lanka won back her independence in 1948 and is now a sovereign republic, with membership in the
Commonwealth of Nations and the United Nations Organisation.

01.5 Present Government Information:

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01.6 Administrative Details

Figure 2- Administrative Boundaries ( divided into 09 Province)

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12Figure 3- Districts Boundaries (divided into 25 districts)

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13Figure 4- Sri Lanka‟s population of around 2009 estimate 20
million has an urban rural mix of approximately 30% to 70 %01.7 Sri Lanka Economy

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Sri Lanka‟s economy is mainly agricultural, based on the production and export of tea, rubber,coconut garments, gems and minor export crops. Paddy is the main domestic crop, and rice is thestaple food of the people, foreign employment and tourism play a vital role in the economy of thecountry.

The House holds Income Survey data 2002 reveals that during 1981-2002 the richest 20%
increased by 121% where as the poorest 40 % of the income group increased only by 15.6 %.
The per capita GDP in the Western Province 1470 US$ in all other districts it is below the national
average of US$ 935 Lowest per capita GDP, US$ 483 was recorded in the conflict affected areas ofcountry. 455 of the population in the country earns below US$ 2 per day. This accounts for over 60
percent in the rural sector. In 2002 the percentage of poor households in the rural sector based on
the official poverty line was 20.8 against 6.2 in the urban sector. It was 24.3 in the estate sector.
Macro economic forecast up to 2010 expect a growth of GDP at 7%-8% While the initiatives takenby the government to improve the economic infrastructure development in the country is admirable,
the issues relating to economic infrastructure have to be resolved urgently to place the country in the
expected high economic growth path. In 2009, the government continued its efforts to improve thesocial infrastructure facilities considering the importance of social infrastructure development inbuilding a healthier society with an educated and productive labor force. The government has
declared its intention to transform Sri Lanka into a Naval, Aviation, Commercial, Energy andKnowledge hub and develop the country into a strategically important economic centre in the region.
With the end of nearly three decades of conflict in May 2009 and the re-integration of the Northernand Eastern provinces with the rest of the country, priority has been given to infrastructuredevelopment activities in these two provinces.

Port Services
Development of port infrastructure has been given the highest priority in recent years.
Several port developmental projects were in progress in 2009.

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15Figure 6- Layout Plan of the Port of Hambantota
The Hambantota port was envisioned during an effort to synchronies the different aspects of port
development including shipping, transshipment, ship building and bunkering and constructioncommenced in January 2008. It is a landmark project built inland on dry conditions and is the fi rst
major port built in Sri Lanka after the Port of Colombo which was built in the 1870s. The total
estimated cost of this project is US dollars 361 million and Phase I of the Hambantota Port
Development Project is expected to be completed by April 2010.

Tourism sector enjoyed total earnings of US $ 384 million in 2009, an increase of 12.3 percent over2008 making itself as the fast emerging growth industry in the economy. The number of tourist
arrivals has also increased to 448,000, a 2.1 percent increase compared to 2008. Sri Lanka iseyeing 575,000 tourists with earnings of US $ 600 million for 2010. During the second half of 2009,
the tourist arrivals and earnings rose by 21.5 percent and 42.5 percent respectively compared to thecorresponding period of 2008.

Economic Target:


8% Growth in GDP by 2010



Reduction of budget deficit from 9.9% of GDP in 2002 to 3% of GDP by 2010.



Reduction of current account deficit and improve balance of payment.



From 6.6 %of GDP 2002 to 0.5 % of GDP by 2010.



An Increase of in domestic savings from 17.3 percentile to 32% of GDP by 2010.



An Increase of investment from 28% of GDP to 35% by 2010.



An increase of exports 39.1 % to 50.8 of GDP by 2010.



Reduction of inflation from 6 % to 3 % by 2010.

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01.8. Weather and Climate

Figure 5- Sri Lanka lie on ITCZ - Map

The climate of the island is mostly governed by the metrological conditions in the Bay of Bengal. The
climate of Sri Lanka can be classified as a tropical monsoonal climate marked by model seasonal
rhythm rainfall of two distinguished monsoons (South west monsoon and North east monsoon.) the
south west monsoon and North east monsoons are prevalent from May to September andDecember to February respectively. The first and second inter monsoons are prevalent from MarchApril and October-November respectively. The onset of monsoon is associated with a cyclonic windcirculation in the low troposphere (below 1500m). the surface winds occur when cyclonic storms
cause depressions to form in the vicinity of the country. Depressions frequently occur with the onsetof the monsoons.

The annual rainfall in Sri Lanka varies from 900 mm to 6,000 mm and the average annual rainfall is1836 mm. Wet, intermediate and dry zones are classified as below.

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Wet Zone- Annual rainfall above 2,200 mm

Intermediate zone.

– Annual rain fall between 2,000 mm and 2,200 mm

Dry zone- annual rainfall bellow 2,000 mm

The temperature decreases with increasing altitude approximately 2 degrees C for every 300 m ofelevation. The high temperatures are observed in April, May and June. And the low temperatures
are observed in December, January and February. However the difference between the warmest
and coldest is only between 1.5 to 4 degrees C. The annual average temperature for the country
varies from 25 and 28 Degrees C. The relative humidity varies generally from 70 % during the day to
90 % at night. In the arid areas in the south west and the south east, the humidity drops to about
60%.Based on the observations made by the Irrigation department and Meteorological Department,
the average annual evaporation for the Dry zone and wet zone are 1,436mm and 1,017 mm
respectively.

01.8.1 Climate Change
01.8.1.1 Present and Future Perspective of Sri Lanka (source :Department ofMeteorology, Colombo)
Climate Change is defined as statistically significant variation in either mean state of the climate or inits variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer). Climate change may be
due to natural internal processes or external forcing or to persistent anthropogenic changes in thecomposition of the atmosphere or in land use (IPCC, 2001).

01.8.1.2

Rain fall change

Annual average of rainfall over Sri Lanka has been decreased by an amount of 144 millimeters,
about seven percent, during 1961 to 1990 period compared to 1931 to 1960 period (Chandrapala1997) with the standard deviation increasing from 234 to 263 millimeters. Northeast monsoon rainfall
over Sri Lanka has been decreased from 1931 – 1960 to 1961-1990 periods, with an increased
variability. Southwest monsoon rainfall has not shown any significant change during these two
periods; however variability has been decreased during 1961-1990 compared to 1931-1960. HighNational Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

18variability of annual rainfall is reported at Baticaloa, Kurunegala, and Rathnapura ) meteorologicalstations in the recent past compared to other meteorological stations. No significant trends of annual
rainfall have been noticed during the last century. High variability of rainfall patterns could probably
be due to global climate change with the increase of Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

01.8.1.3

Temperature Change

Annual mean air temperature anomalies have shown significant increasing trends during the recent
few decades in Sri Lanka (Basnayake et al 2002). The rate of increase of mean air temperature forthe 1961-1990 period is in the order of 0.016 0C per year (Chandrapala, 1996). Annual mean
maximum air temperatures have shown increasing trends in almost all stations with the maximum
rate of increase about 0.021 0C per year at Puttalam. Nighttime annual mean minimum airtemperatures have also shown increasing trends with higher gradients. The maximum rate ofincrease of nighttime annual mean minimum air temperature is reported about 0.02 0C per year at
Nuwara-Eliya.

It has been evident that increase in average annual surface temperatures across the country during
recent time is largely due to the increase in nighttime minimum temperature than that of the daytime
maximum temperature. This trend is similar to the global trend of rising temperature during the lastcentury. Enhanced greenhouse effect could partly be responsible for this warming in addition to the
local heat island effects caused by the rapid urbanization that has been taken place during therecent past.

01.8.1.4 Impacts due to Increased Sea Level
Being an island Sri Lanka is highly vulnerable to sea level rise with varying degree of sectoral
impacts. It is highly confident that sea water intrusion to agricultural lands will be inevitable event
under a changing climate which will lead to further reduction of land available for agriculture.
Increased sea level rise will also exacerbate the coastal erosion giving rise some additional pressure
on land available for agriculture, directly and indirectly. Also, it may reduce the quality of bothdrinking and irrigation water in coastal regions by disturbing the interface between fresh andbrackish water. It is highly likely that sea level rise will disturb the Gyben-Herzberg lens of fresh
water found underneath of Regosol in coastal regions. These fresh water lenses provide theirrigation water for intensive agriculture in those regions.

01.8.1.5 Response Strategies to Minimize the Vulnerability
Suggested Adaptation Strategies – Technical

promote micro-irrigation (drip, sprinkler etc.).

upland annual crop cultivation in the DZ to be transformed to perennial fruit crop cultivation

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19with intensive irrigation management practices wherever possible.


crop recommendation based on the agro-ecological suitability.



promote on-farm soil and moisture conservation.

rain water harvesting (domestic and on-farm).

rehabilitation of irrigation canal network.



rehabilitation of minor tanks to operate at their design capacity.



re-use of drainage water, if suitable.



use of tail water recovery pits for lift irrigation.



program to improve the water use and conveyance efficiency.

breeding for short age varieties.

strengthen the breeding program for.



drought resistance.

high temperature resistance.

pest and disease resistance.

salt resistance.

effective use of long range weather forecasting for agricultural planning.

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2002. Natural Disasters on Sri Lanka

Photo (g) shows the December 2004 Tsunami devastation on southern coastal parts of thecountry.
Natural Disasters in Sri Lanka are mainly hydro-meteorological and geological phenomenal
events such as floods, landslides, cyclones, tidal waves drouts and Tsunamis. Besides the country isplunging in civil strife, accidents, industrial hazards and environmental degradation as human madedisasters. Natural Disasters have caused extensive damage to the people and property year afteryear, disrupting social and economic development endeavors. While it is experiencing human madedisasters, triggering tremendous damage to people and there livelihood and exposing substantial
economic losses to the country. In the last 10 years period before 2003, Sri Lanka experienced 30
major disaster events in which about 398 peoples were killed and 27.5 million people were affected.
The total economic losses were estimated to be almost

US$ 5.96 billion approximately. But theflood and Land slides occurred on 17 May 2003 have claimed 252 lives around 26 000 houses
damaged. It is estimated that total loss to economy is around US$ 76.7 million. And the divesting
Tsunami waves in 26 Dec. 2004 caused unbelievable damage to country which claimed
approximately 40000 people lives and caused more than US$ 3.0 billion losses to country economy.
While the natural disasters claimed such amount people‟s lives, man made disasters also have killed
about 640000 people and 20 million people affected since 1983. (Annexure 1, shows the occurrenceof Natural Disasters and allocated funds for relief and rehabilitation activities for 1981-2005)

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02.1 Disasters in Sri Lanka and the History
When look back at the history of natural disasters in Sri Lanka one will be surprised to know that theisland is located in a dangerous position not far away from the two fault lines, one in Indian Ocean
and the other in the Bay of Bengal. The volcanic mountain named Karakatoa located in the Sunda
strait near Sumatra erupted on 27th August 1887 at 10.00 am generated massive 40 meters tidal
waves which killed more than 36450 people. Waves hit Pothuvil, Panama, Hambantota, andGalle in southeastern coastal towns of Sri Lanka. April 14th, 1615, a strong earthquake struck
Sri Lanka unleashing widespread damage and casualties in western sections of the island, mostnotably in Colombo. It is thought that 200 houses collapsed. A part of the western city wall of theColombo Fort collapsed destroyed. A bastion also collapsed and destroyed a neighboring house
killing 4 persons. A stone bridge was also destroyed in the earthquake. Deep fissuresopened in the earth. According to a historical text (reproduced below), flames and sulphur
are said to have been emitted from these fissures. It is thought that 2000 persons were killed
in and around Colombo as a result of this earthquake. The recent Tsunami originated by theundersea earthquake on the northern tip of this fault line has again hit Sri Lanka. It is incorrect to
say that Sri Lanka is free from natural disasters like Cyclone, Tsunamis, Floods andLandslides etc.
The most powerful earthquake in 40 years erupted under the Indian Ocean near Sumatra on
Dec. 26, 2004. It caused giant, deadly waves to crash ashore in nearly a dozen countries, killingtens of thousands. A long stretch of Sri Lanka's coast was devastated by these killer waves,with more than 40,000 dead and staggering 2.5 million people displaced. Although 1,600km fromthe epicenter, the waves struck with huge force and swept inland as far as 5 kilometers. Waves ashigh as six meters had crashed into coastal villages, sweeping away people, cars and even a train
with 1700 passengers. It was the worst human disaster in Sri Lanka history. This study mainly
concentratedon

Tsunami.

This

is

the

major

incidenttocreatetheDisasterManagement Center of Sri Lanka.

02.2 Floods

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Sri Lanka is an island with a unique aerographic region which acts as the hub for the racially
flowing river system. There are 103 drainage basin 80 % of this would not have water go dry every
year and river basing with over 800 square km are considered as resourceful basins. Out of 103
rivers it is only 10 rivers such as Mahaweli, Kalani, Nilwala, Kalu and Gin are vulnerable to floods
substantially. While heavy rainfall and run off the large volume of water from the catchments areas ofrivers are the causes of much flooding, human activities such as deforestation, improper land use
and absence of scientific soil conservation methods are contributing towards the increase in both
frequency and impact of floods.

Despite the districts of Colombo, Gampaha, Rathnapura, Kegalle, Galle and Matara are inundating
to floods during the south west monsoon, the districts of Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee, Jaffna,
and Baticoloa are subject to floods during the North east monsoons. The floods, which occurred in
1947, 1957, 1984, 1990, 1992 and 2003, were disastrous events the country ever faced.

Photo (h) shows the flood of Ratnapura 18.05 2003 (Photo from
Irrigation Department)

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

23The Graph of No. of Peoples affected by Floods from 1974-2004 (NDMC)
800000600000No. ofpeopleaffected

400000200000

0
1974

1977

1980

1983

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

2004

The Historical Floods for Colombo illustrated in Annexure No. II

02.3 Landslides

Photo ( i) shows the landslide Hapugoda-Ratnapura 2003.05.17 (Photo from NBRO)

Landslides, which are often triggered by intense heavy rains, have caused imminent damage to
people and development activities of the country especially during the last two decades. Changes inland use and cropping patterns, increased demand for land that pushes settlements into unstable

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

24areas, alterations in normal drainage flows improper slope cutting technique have caused increasingof the landslides in hilly areas substantially. It is identified that eleven districts in Central .Southwestern, Sabaragamuwa, and Southern region covering over 12000 square kilometers land area ofthe country are highly vulnerable to land slides. The landslides occurred in 1989, 1993 and 2003
ever recorded hazardous events in the Disaster history of Sri Lanka have Triggered severe damage
to people and property.

The Graph of No. of Divisions affected by Landslides from 1974-2004 (NDMC)
50

40

30

No. ofreports

No. of Affected

20

DSS
10

0
1974

1977

1980

1983

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

2004

02.4.Cyclones:
The eastern, northern and north central regions are vulnerable to cyclone that occurs as a resultof climatic changes of the Bay of Bengal. According to disaster history, cyclones are not frequent
occurrences in the country, but high gale and wind storms accompanied with the monsoon rains
have frequent caused considerable damage to the people‟s livelihood and environment. Few of thecyclones in the past 70 years, have caused substantial damage to the society and economy. The
1978 cyclone alone affected more than one million people, killed ,killed nearly a thousand persons,partially and completely damaged more than 250 000 houses, destroyed 90% of coconut plantationin the Batticoloa district and resulted in the government having to spent over 600 million to bring
immediate relief to those affected. The cyclone occurred in December 2000, has claimed 15 lives

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

25and damaged 77,000 houses in the districts of Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Matale,
Vavuniya and Mannar.

The Graph of No. of Divisions affected by cyclones from 1974-2004 (NDMC)
50

40

30

No.No.
of ofreports
Affected
DSS

20

10

0
1974

1977

1980

1983

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

2004

02.5 Droughts:
Droughts are also a frequent occurrence in Sri Lanka and every year. For short durations
droughts which are local significance are experienced by the people in some parts of the country.
Despite regional significance droughts occur once in every 3 or 4 years, the people and economy
have hit by severe drought national significance once in 10 to 15 years consequently. Least rainfall,
deforestation, improper land use and unplanned cultivation patterns are the main causes for the
drought in some parts of the country. Such as North central, southern, Northwestern and easternregions. Major droughts occurred during the period of 1953-1956, 1974-1977, 1981-1983 and 1995-

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26

1996, causing substantial damage to the economy and plaguing development efforts of Sri Lanka.
The period of 2001- 2002, 1.6 million people living in southern and north western dry zone areas
were experiencing severe drought.

The Graph of No. of Divisions affected by Drought from 1974-2004 (NDMC)
60

50

40

No.
of of
No.
reports
Affected

30

DSS
20

10

0
1974

1977

1980

1983

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998

2001

2004

02.6. Sea Erosion:
Sri Lanka has a coastline of 1585 km. nearly 25% of the 19 million populations live along thecoastal areas engaging in fisheries and tourist industries. The economic importances of the coastal
areas have increased further with the rapid urbanization, the development of commercial harbours(Colombo, Galle and Tricomalee) Fishing harbours and encourage, main lines of communication(road and rail) recreational facilities and tourism. It has been estimated that over 50 – 55 % of theshore line is subjected to or threatened by coast erosion. The most critically affected areas are thosebetween Kalpitiya in the Northwest and Matara in the South. Shoreline retreat due to sea erosion
has been a severe problem in Sri Lanka resulting in damage to and loss of property andinfrastructure facilities,
and development efforts.

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Variation of Temperature
Temperature Change - 0C

1.6

1.2

0.8

0.4

0
1850

1900

1950

2000
2050
Time in Years

2100

2150

Changes in Sea Level cm

VARIATION OF SEA LEVEL
60
40
20
0

-20
1850

1900

1950

2000
2050
Time - Years

2100

2150

02.7 Tsunami：

Tsunami is a rare, unpredictable and a destructive type of event. The experience of the 26th
December 2004 was that the people were taken unawares. This was a disaster, the characteristicsof which were not known widely. Unfortunately a historic and a well documented tsunami incident
that hit Sri Lanka on 27th August 1883 was not widely known.
When the tsunami struck on 26 December people in Sri Lanka did not know what was happening.
The people observing the phenomenon probably would not have known whether it is a local

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occurrence in the sea or a country wide phenomenon. Many people moving to the sea shore
exploring it when the sea receded stand testimony to this fact.
There was a time gap between the strike of the tsunami on Indonesia and that on Sri Lanka. Even
within the country, the coast was hit by the wave at different times (East getting the first brunt, but
gradually spreading to North, South and finally the West) allowing adequate time for warning if themechanism were there.
The most important lesson learnt was that all segments of population including the community andall levels of officials must be made aware of the peculiar characteristics of tsunami. As this is a rareoccurrence, it is important that the knowledge is passed on to the next generation

Table 1-Top Ten Natural Disasters From History- up to 2005

Top 10 Natural Disaster
Disaster
Date
Wave / Surge
26-Dec-2004
Wind Storm
24-Nov-1978
Flood
30-May-1989
Flood
17-May-2003
Wind Storm
22-Dec-1964
Wind Storm
25-Dec-1957
Slides8-Oct-1993
Flood
25-Dec-1969
Epidemic
Nov-1987
Flood
24-May-1984
Number of people killed

Killed35,399
740
325
235
206
200
65
62
53
45

Number of people affected
Disaster
Date
Affected
Drought
1987
2,200,000
Drought
1982
2,000,000
Drought
1983
1,800,000
Flood
Dec-1983
1,250,000
Wave / Surge
26-Dec-2004
1,019,306
Wind Storm
24-Nov-1978
1,005,000
Flood
25-Dec-1969
1,000,000
Drought
Aug-2001
1,000,000
Drought
Mar-1989
806,000
Flood
17-May-2003
695,000

Source : OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database / Nov-3-2005 - Data version: v05.10(Annexure No. III) Illustrate occurrence of natural disasters and allocated funds for relief andrehabilitation activities from 1981-2005

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03. Current Disaster risk management in Sri Lanka
03.1. Legal System
03. 2 Sri Lanka Disaster Management Act No 13, of 2005
13th May 2005 the Government of Sri Lanka has been passed the “Sri Lanka Disaster
Management Act No. 13 of 2005” in parliament. It is the main legal base for Sri Lanka‟s Disastermanagement.
This act provides the provisions of establishment of National Council for Disaster Management(NCDM), the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) ; appointment of technical advisory committees(TAC); the preparation of Disaster Management Plan; the Declaration of a state of disaster; theAward of Compensation and for matters connected here with or incidental thereto. (Annexure No
IV- Sri Lanka Disaster Management act no 13-2005)
According to the provisions given by the act, 12th Nov. 2005 Her Excellency the President Chandrika
Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was appointed the National disaster management council. This consistsof

1 The President- Chairmen
2. The Prime Minister Vice-chairmen
3 The Leader of the opposition
4. The ministers in charge of the following subjects:(i) Social Welfare(ii) Rehabilitation and Reconstruction(iii) Environment,(iv) Home affairs,(v) Health(vi) Science and Technology(vii) Housing(viii) Coast Conservation(ix) Irrigation(x) Power(xi)Defense(xii) Police(xiii) Finance(xiv) Land(xv) Fisheries and aquatic resources(xvi) Foreign affairs(xvii) Water supply

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(xviii) Highways(xix) Urban Development(xx) Education
5. The chief ministers of every provincial council
Vision:Disaster Risk Management for safer communities and sustainable development in Sri
Lanka.

The Broad Mission:
To create a culture of safety among communities and the nation at large through systematicmanagement of natural, technological and man-made disaster risks.

03. 3 Functions of the National Council for Disaster Management (NCDM)
The following are spelled out as functions of the Council as its functions and throughthese provisions it will strategize the implementation mechanisms:
a. Formulate a National Policy and Programme for DM
b. Prepare and formulate the National Disaster Management Plan and the Emergency
Operation Planc. Monitor and implement the National Disaster Management Plan and the Emergency
Operation Plan
d. Facilitate emergency response, recovery, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in
the event of a disastere. Take all steps to counter any disaster or impending disaster in accordance with the
plans
f.

Direct, coordinate and monitor activities of the Disaster Management Centre
established under the provisions of this Act

g. Ensure adequate publicity to the above 2 plansh. In the preparation of Disaster Management Plan to specify guidelines to be compliedby every ministry, government department and public corporations

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i.

Facilitate and support local and community self reliance in the event of any potential
or actual disasterj.

Promote public awareness campaigns and fund research and development in DM

k. Facilitate liaison with originations and persons pursuing hazard, vulnerability and risk
reduction studies and implementing action programmes and commissioning suchstudies and action programmesl.

Assign functions and responsibilities to the Disaster Management Centre (DMC)

m. Initiate programmes relating to prevention and mitigation of disaster and provision ofrelief, rehabilitation and reconstruction
n. Appraise the Cabinet of Ministers on all relevant matters connected with any
potential and actual disasters
o. Recommend the allocation of funds for DM from the relevant authorities and bodies
and the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Fund established by the relevant Act

03. 4 Functions of Disaster Management Centre (DMC)
Disaster Management Centre will be headed by a Director General and there will be
Directors appointed as determined by the Council. (Proposed Organizational structure for
DMC- Annexure No V) The functions will be as follows:a. Assisting the Council to prepare the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) andthe Emergency Operation Plan and proposals for upgrading when necessary
b. Taking responsibility to implement the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) andthe Emergency Operation Plan (EOP), and upon declaration of a state of disaster todirect and coordinate implementation of EOP
c. Ensure that Disaster Management Plans prepared by ministries, government
departments and public corporations conforms to the NDMP
d. Facilitate and support local and community self reliance in the event of any potential or
actual disasterNational Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

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e. Based on NDMP by various ministries, government departments and public corporations,preparing and implementing programmes and plans for disaster preparedness, mitigation,
prevention, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities and coordinating of allorganizations which implement such programmes and plans, and obtain financial
assistance from the Treasury and release same to relevant regions and monitor andevaluate these activitiesf.

Issuing instructions and guidelines to appropriate organizations, non-governmentalorganizations, district secretaries and divisional secretaries on DM related activities andinitiating and implementing activities with such organizations and secretaries

g. Promoting research and development programmes in relation to DM and maintaining a
database on DM
h. Submitting reports to the Council as required
Technical Advisory Committees (TAC) – Provision for Technical Advisory Committees appointed
by the NCDM for assisting NCDM and DMC
National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) - Disaster Management Plans to be prepared andsubmitted by ministries, government departments and public corporations conforming to the NDMP
before the date specified by Council; DMC to extend assistance in the preparation; DMC to submit
same to Council
Declaration of a disaster
Procedure to be followed on Declaration of a disasterCouncil to obtain assistance of NGOs
Duties of an appropriate organization
Award of compensation
Designation of appropriate organization - Council may designate any ministry, government
department, public corporation or Disaster Management Centre (DMC) as an appropriateorganization required to carry out and implement the NDMP or Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) as
the case may be and generally assist the Council (published in the gazette and specifying duties,
guidelines, functions etc.)
After the Presidential Election Dec.2005. Newly appointed His Excellency the President Mahinda
Rajapaksha Appointed the two ministries of Disaster Management.

Ministry of Disastermanagement and Ministry Of Disaster Relief services.

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(Annexure no. VI) Illustrate the institutions and activities allocated to the Ministries.

03.5. Government Structure of Disaster Management
According to the new reforms of the ministerial levels, the government structure mainly responsible
for Disaster management is centered round the District administration, Ministry of disaster
Management and Ministry of disaster Relief services. These institutions will focus on Disaster relief,
rehabilitation, reconstruction as well as the Disaster Prevention. Mitigation, Preparedness,
Awareness and disaster early warning. In the Divisional levels Divisional secretary has an importantrole in disaster management. His/ her office entrusted to take all possible steps for effective relief
and recovery in the aftermath of Disasters as well the preparedness activities to cope with theDisasters.

Supportive agencies:
1. National Planning department.
2. National Building Research Organisation( NBRO)
3. Irrigation Department (ID)
4. Meteorological Department (Met D)
5. Social Service Department (SSD)
6. National water supply & Drainage Board (NWSDB)
7. District and Divisional Administration.
8. Police Department and Armed forces.
9. Road Development Authority.
10. Geological survey and mines Bureau
11. International NGOO
12. NGOO

03.5.1. Institutional Roles:
National Planning Department;
The role of the Department of national planning is appraising projects and plans prepared by the line
ministries, providing observations on the cabinet Memoranda with regard to Disaster preparedness

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

34and management. Apart from above, the Department is involving preparation of poverty reduction
strategies which includes a component of reducing vulnerability of poor to the natural calamities.

The Department has been involving in the preparation of rebuilding plan for the are affected by the
recent Tsunami. This plan includes gross estimates of the damage caused, Programmed for
immediate rehabilitation and a medium term development plan.

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO)The NBRO is a semi-governmental body and the lead agency in Sri Lanka for all activities relating tolandslides, particularly landslide risk identification and mitigation. Its programmes and activities are
funded by the GoSL and its activities include:

identification of areas prone to landslides;

landslide hazard mapping (completed in Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura, Matale, Kandy
and Kegalle; ongoing in Matara, Galle and Habantota);

introduction of guidelines and engineering practices for landslide mitigation;



training of government officials in landslide mitigation; andawareness creation with regard to landslide risk and vulnerability (e.g. developing studies
and conducting workshops). At the national level, the NBRO coordinates with the NPPD, theLand Use Policy Planning Department (LUPPD), the Road Development Authority (RDA),
the UDA, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Agriculture Department, the CHPB,
and the NDMC. At the international level it has ongoing partnerships with the ADPC, theIndian Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), the Dutch International Institute for GeoInformation Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Care International, and the governmentsof Japan and Bangladesh.

Centre for Housing Planning and Building (CHPB)

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35

The CHPB is a government institution under the Ministry of Housing and Construction Industry, andis primarily involved in natural disaster mitigation. Its activities include: > delivery of disastermitigation training to government agencies, CBOs and NGOs;

development of emergency management and response plans for Ratnapura and Kandy
Municipal Councils, and local authorities along the Kelani River from Awisawella to Colombo;raise public awareness in project areas (production of printed and audiovisual materials in
local language, social marketing);



integration of DM into school curricula, Environment Impact Assessment of development
projects; andinformation exchange and dissemination (development of CHPB and NBRO websites as
information centres on DM). The CHPB has active working partnerships with the NBRO andthe UDA, and their district-level offices as well as with local CBOs and NGOs in theimplementation of CBDRM activities. Support for programme work is sourced from external
agencies, such as the Office of United States Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA)
under the ADPC‟s Sri Lanka Urban Disaster Mitigation Programme. It does not receive any
budget from GoSL.

National Physical Planning Department (NPPD)The NPPD is a government department under the Ministry of Urban Development and Water Supply,and is mandated to develop national and regional physical plans. The Department integrates
information on natural disaster-prone areas and disaster mitigation aspects into the planning process.
It works with government agencies and local governmental bodies under the Town and Country
Planning Ordinance No. 13.

Urban Development Authority (UDA)The UDA is a government agency under the Ministry of Urban Development and Water Supply, andis in charge of urban planning and sustainable urban development in the country. Its main activities
include:National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

36

integrated planning and physical development of declared urban areas; and

formulation and implementation of development plans and urban land-use policy.

Coast Conservation Department (CCD)
The CCD is a government agency under the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, with themandate to develop and implement Sri Lanka‟s coastal management plan, as well as to regulate andoversee all development activities in the coastal zone. The National Coastal Zone Management
Plan developed in the 1980s required buildings to be set back up to 300 meters from the coast. In
January 1986, the CCD implemented a comprehensive ICZM programme, with USAID support andwith community participation, to address shorefront development, coastal erosion, habitat loss, andthe decline of recreational and cultural sites. Mitigation efforts include coastal permits for house
construction
and sand mining, public education, and coastal protection works. The Coastal 2000 strategic plantakes a two track approach, including national and local levels in coastal zone resource
management, and actively involving residents in the design and implementation of special area
management plans.

Department of Meteorology
The Department of Meteorology has the broad mandate to provide climatic, meteorological, aviation
meteorological, marine meteorological, hydro meteorological, agro meteorological and astronomical
services for national needs. In the area of DRM, it is involved in early warning and awareness in Sri
Lanka, and now functions as the tsunami early warning centre of Sri Lanka.

Civil Defense Organizations and Their Activities
In Sri Lanka, Civil Defense organization plays a major role in the event of disasters to protect the
lives and property from such calamities as floods, landslides and cyclones. At the grassroots level,
we have the Grama Niladaries to provide basic assistance with the help of civil Defense
organizations. Thereafter, as mentioned above, we have Divisional level institutions called the

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Divisional Secretariats headed by the Divisional Secretary, who coordinates all operational activities
and the provision of emergency relief in the event of a Disaster. At the Divisional level, hecoordinates all disaster functions coming under the Civil Defense organizations. At the provincial
level, we have provincial level Civil Defense Committee which is chaired and coordinated by thechief Minister. On top of these arrangements, under the Passed Disaster management Act No.13.
We have the Committee under the chairmanship of the His Excellency the President, to coordinate
all activities regarding a disaster at the national level. The activities of the Civil Defense
organizations at various levels can be summarized as follows.

Immediately after a disaster, officers are dispatched to identify and assist people as quickly as
possible. Identify the seriously injured people and assist the community in organizing emergency
evacuation for health treatment centres.Ensure that the police station functions immediately. The
Ministry of Disaster Relief Services recently established an information system with collaboration
with UNDP called DisInventar and DisConsultar to collect and disseminate data on natural and man
made disasters.

We have already done substantial work in Sri Lanka in the area of mitigation. To reduce the impact
of disasters, we have structural and nonstructural measures, such as legislation and incentives forpeople in landslide areas. (Annexure XIII) However, people are reluctant to move out of theirtraditional habitats though their area is prone to landslide. The Department of social services
provides financial assistance to the people living in the low lying areas in the Kalutara district to build
flood resistance houses. But the programme did not succeed due to the reluctance of the people toput their own resources also to implement this type of programmes. Therefore, it has become
necessary to create awareness among the people living in areas prone to disaster like floods,
landslides, and severe droughts to adopt themselves to disaster conditions by accepting the
programme which will enable them to live without becoming disaster victims.

03.5.2 The Role of Volunteers and Non-Governmental Organizations for Disaster
Preparedness and Relief

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

38The dependence on volunteer organizations has become inevitable in disaster preparedness andrelief programmes in Sri Lanka. They can respond at short notice to an emergency situation since
they don‟t have to work through bureaucratic channels. They can bring in expertise from outsidewhenever necessary at very short notice. Their budgets are fairly flexible. On the other hand, they
are at a disadvantage in that they do not have the necessary authority and at times the official
contacts to get things done. The major advantages of the volunteers and NGOO for disaster
preparedness are as follows: NGOO can participate with their expertise at the stage of formulation of policy andNational Plans.
 NGOO could be useful in providing necessary material in disaster management suchas the provision of food, drugs and clothes.
 NGOO can provide experts for training of local officials.
 They can help in the designing and production of information material to the publicregarding disaster preparedness and relief.
 They can be assigned with specific roles in advance, e.g. Supply of emergency kits
and first-aid kits.
 NGOO can render help in the running of refugee camps.

Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA)
Established in 1997, the CHA is an association of agencies working in and supporting humanitarian
work in Sri Lanka. In the past nine years the CHA has continued to function as a network ofhumanitarian agencies and has developed a full-fledged secretariat with its own specific capabilities.
The CHA focuses on two main roles:

functioning as a network of like-minded organisations; and

implementing projects on behalf of and with its members.

CHA Post-tsunami Recovery Programme (CPRP):

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

39The programme works from the premise that the threat of tsunamis requires concerted efforts fromdifferent sectors and different actors. It wants to involve and address equally all actors involved inhumanitarian assistance. These include the tsunami survivors and people in the surrounding
communities, private initiatives of nationals, internationals and diaspora communities, Sri Lankan
NGOs, international NGOs with a presence in the country prior to the tsunami, newly arrived
international NGOs, government agencies at different levels,Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG)
The ITDG is an NGO with a mandate to use appropriate technology in agriculture, transport, energy,
infrastructure, and disaster preparedness and mitigation to increase the resilience of the poor. It
focuses on research, advocacy, information- sharing, and demonstrations of its technology. Activities
are implemented in partnership with the government and other NGOs, with funding support from
DFID, the EU, and other independent trusts in the UK, and include:the development of district-level action plans for drought mitigation (completed in
Monaragala and Puttlam districts);

demonstrations to enhance the resilience of poor communities to climate variability (Badulla
and Monaragala districts);

capacity-building of communities through training; andcreation of public awareness.

Oxfam
Oxfam has been supporting projects and partners in Sri Lanka since 1968. Focusing on the extreme
poverty suffered by those who are affected by the long-lasting conflict in the country, Oxfam has also
been working actively in the field of DM. In the response to the tsunami, Oxfam has been working
in the area of building shelters, restoring livelihoods, the water supply and sanitation, and gender.

World Vision

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

40World Vision has been working in Sri Lanka since 1977, and immediately after the tsunami theorganisation was well placed to mobilise its staff across the worst-affected areas and to launch a
relief programme to provide local people with life-saving food and essential items. In addition tocontinuing emergency relief distributions where necessary, the main sectors that the World Vision
programme addresses include: shelter, child protection, improving the infrastructure, economic
development, water and sanitation, health, education and the environment.

03.6. Proposed National Disaster management Plan (NDMP)The objectives of the proposed national disaster management plan are to provide effective
measures;For protection of life and property from effects of the Disasters.



For maintenance and restoration of order in areas affected by Disasters.



For provision of facilities on emergency response and recovery in the event of disasters.



For providing leadership and initiative, to all authorities concerned.

03.6.1. Activities of the Proposed Plan
Under the proposed plan, Disaster management activities can be conveniently classified into fivemain areas.
Prevention, Mitigation and preparedness

Emergency response and relief operation

Rehabilitation and Reconstruction

Awareness creation and education



Initiatives for Development opportunities.

Implementation of the NDMP will be at National, Provincial, Divisional and village levels. Concerned
institutions at all levels have their Role and Responsibilities identified in the Action plan.

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41

In the event of disasters, the emergency measures should be taken immediately, Protecting people
and properties from possible disaster threat subsequently and providing assistance for protection
and safeguarding the affected people. In this context, it is observed that some disaster management
activities should be decentralized into the provincial, district, divisional and village level, enabling
people‟s participation. It will be therefore suggested that the following disaster related coordinating
comities be set up to upgrade local level disaster management building capacities.
 Provincial Disaster Management Coordination Committee.
 District Disaster Management coordinating committee.
 Divisional Disaster Management coordinating committee Village Level Disaster Management coordinating committee

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04.Latest Disaster Information of Sri Lanka

Figure 7- Disaster profile of Sri Lanka

04.1. Flood Situation Sri Lanka– May 2010
Friday, 14 May 2010, heavy monsoon rains have resulted in flash floods, high‐winds, landslides,
lightning and thunder storms in 13 districts in Sri Lanka including: Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara,
Ratnapura, Kegalle, Matara, Kegalle, Galle, Nuwara Eliya, Trincomalee, Puttalam, Mannar andAnuradhapura.
As of Wednesday, 19 May 2010, over 458,783 persons (104,213 families) have been affected by theheavy rains. This includes minor displacement of 9,579 people and 18 deaths. Reports indicate that172 houses have been destroyed and another 915 damaged. The Government of Sri Lanka is
responding to the crisis through local and central levels and the Navy has been deployed with theirboat teams to assist with evacuations.

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

43Some of views of disasters 2010

Photos(j), (k) are shows of flood disaster in Rathnapura and Matara district

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Table 2 - Flood Situation Reports 2010 (source from UN OCHA Sri Lanka)

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National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

46

04.2. Landslides and rock falls occurred Nuwara Eliya district in year 2007.
Landslide incidences At Padeyapallela area – Nuwara Eliya district (12th Jan 2007)

Photo (l) shows the Damage to the house

Photo (m) shows the Damage to the Road

Photos(n) ,( o) shows the Lunugala Landslide – Passara Badulla District

Sri Lankan Landslides which are often triggered by intense heavy rains are an increasing problem
due to development activities and urbanization. With the torrential rains received in year 2003, 2006
and 2007 large number of landslides and rock falls took place in Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Badulla andMatale districts. About 440 landslides and rockfalls incidents causing eleven deaths have beenreported from Nuwara Eliya district in year 2007 (NBRO, 2007). More than 2000 families had to be
evacuated and proposed to resettle in safer locations due to landslide threat. Ir is noted that
progress of the resettlement work are slow due to unavailability of safer locations in the hilly terrain.
Landslide disasters occur with the heavy rains and affect, severely on the livelihoods and theagricultural activities which are the main lively hood of the people in these areas.

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Table3- Damages caused by the Landslides occurred from June 2004 to June 2007 in

Nuwara Eliya district

DS Division
Ambagamuwa
Nuwara Eliya
Walapane
Hanguranketha
Total

Deaths1
318
426HousesDestroyed
2
19
383
38
442

HousesDamaged
3
29
1004
269
1305

Affected
Number
N/D
2001
11222
2310
15533

PeopleEvacuated
N/D
N/D
8317
1296
9613

Source: www.desinventar.lk
Table 4- Summary of Landslide Victims on 2007 landslide disaster According to the reports
completed by NBROAGA Div.

Reported Sites

Walapane

198

High
Families
897

Hanguranketha

52

720

risk Medium
Families
380

risk Total
1277

312

1032

Table 5- Details of Evacuation during the past period due to landslides ((source: NBRO)

District

High risk

Medium risk

Low risk

Total

Ratnapura

947

646

259

1852

Matara

467

249

131

847

Hambantota

133

29

2

164

Kegalle

31

49

5

85

Galle

37

23

25

85

Kalutara

41

38

17

96

1617

692

-

2309

Nuwara Eliya
Total

3273

1726

439

5438

In year 2007, National Disaster Relief Services Centre has spent about Rs. 22,586,775.00 for theland slide affected people as for the relief work.

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04.3 Tsunami Disaster 26th December 2004
Impacts and Response
In the early hours of the morning of Sunday 26th December 2004 a massive earthquake measuring
9.0 on the Richter scale struck the west coast of the Sumatra. The epicenter was some 30km under
the seabed and 250 kilometers south-southwest of Banda Aceh. The first quake was followed byafter shocks ranging from 6 to 7.3, them selves large enough to destroy thousands of lives andlivelihoods. The quake triggered powerful Tsunamis reaching ten meters in height, and these moved
through neighboring parts of the Indian ocean at over 500 kilometers an hour wrecking coastal areas
in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Maldives, as well as Myanmar, Seychelles and Somalia.

This reached Sri Lanka at 8.00 in the morning local time causing extensive loss of life and destroying
coastal areas. In Sri Lanka thirteen districts, including Jaffna in the north, eastern and southerncoast, and part of the west coast as far north as Chilaw were struck by tsunami waves. The waves
penetrated inland areas up to 500 meters in many places leaving behind few intact structures andkilling or injuring ten thousands of people. Many people were swept into the sea and drowned by thestrong currents, while others were trapped in buildings, busses and trains. The majority of those wholost their lives were women and children who were unable to escape the force of the water. In
coastal communities houses were destroyed, fishing boats lost, bridges and roads washed out. The
majority of the displaced are living in the camps or in public buildings having lost their homes andtheir possessions.

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49

Table 7- Situation Reports on Tsunami - 2004

Figure 9 – Tsunami affected districts

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

50Figure 1. Affected DS Divisions
As of March 31st 2005 official figures indicated that more than 31,000 people in Sri Lanka were deadand approximately 4,100 remained missing (Annex I); however, theses figures may change as
bodies continue to be identified, and depend upon the public health situation during relief efforts.
Displaced persons estimates stand at 516,000 while the affected population is estimated between
one and two million, out of a total population of approximately 19 million people. The government
estimates that the number of damaged houses at more than 100,000 of which more than 60,000
have been completely destroyed. About 100,000 people are still living in relief camps, while
approximately 400,000 people have moved in with friends or relatives. How ever, this number
continues to decrease over time as families return to their homes to begin rebuilding.
The tsunami has affected a broad range of economic income and ethnic groups, both rich and poor.
Thus it caused huge direct and indirect economic impacts on major and minor infrastructures,
Livelihood options, lives and property in the country. It is important to have a soft analysis ofdamages on sector wise scenario.
The tsunami caused damage to the Education, Health, Housing, Fisheries, Agriculture and livestock,
Livelihood, Transportation, Power, Water and Sanitation and Tourism.



Education
The tsunami caused damages to a total of 168 public schools, 4 Universities and 18
vocational/industrial training centers. The Number of students affected is 76911 where as thenumber of teachers affected is 3173.The total cost of the damage to the education sector
according to preliminary estimates, is approximately $26 million.



HealthDamage to the Health system occurred in three primary areas: the loss of services,human resources, and damage to health related infrastructure. Following the disaster 92

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local clinics, hospitals and drug stores were either destroyed or damaged. The estimatedcost of the damage to the health sector is $60 million.


Housing
The tsunami surge completely destroyed around 99,480 homes and partiallydamaged about 44,290.The completely and partially damaged houses together comprise 13
percent of the housing stock in the administration divisions along the coast. The net
replacement cost for housing is estimated between $437 million to $487 million.



Agriculture and Livestock
The damage to the agriculture sector is mainly confined to the destruction to standing
crops in paddy and other crop fields and home gardens along the entire coastal belt and thewashing away of parts of cashew and betel cultivations along the eastern coast. A total of
about 2,308 hectares of paddy lands, 589 hectares of other field crops, 473 hectares ofvegetable cultivation and 201 hectares of fruit crop areas were completely destroyed. The
total damage to the agriculture sector is estimated to be $3 millions.



Fisheries
Sea fishing has been the most severely affected sector, industry and livelihood as aresult of the tsunami. About 7416 fishermen died. In addition 90,000 fishermen‟s families
have been displaced due to the loss of housing and other household assets. More than 60
percent of the boats and fishing implements were destroyed.

Transportation – Railways/Roads
The tsunami caused damage to the southern rail corridor estimated at LKR
1.5billion.This is the most important rail corridor in Sri Lanka carrying 78,000 passengers per
day and freight from the port of Galle.
The tsunami damaged sections of the national road network (Classes A and B) totals
approximately 690 km in length, in addition to approximately 700 km s of provincial roads(Classes C, D, and E) and approximately 1,100 km of local government roads have beendamaged. The Damage is estimated at $60 millions.

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Water Supply and Sanitation
In water and sanitation sector, the tsunami disaster affected 14 districts in the
Northern, Eastern and Southern provinces, mostly in the areas where dependency on wells
was high. A rough estimate shows at least 12,000 wells were damaged mainly by salt-water
intrusion and approximately 50,000 were abandoned.

National Response
Immediately after the disaster struck, communities and local authorities responded quickly toaddress immediate needs of the affected people. On December 27, President addressed the nationand promised full support to the tsunami victims and enacted the several emergency response
mechanisms to expedite relief activities. In addition, a Centre for National Operations (CNO) was
formed under the President‟s Secretariat to oversee and monitor emergency programs and liaise
with relevant line ministries, NGOs, the private sector, and other organizations contributing to therelief and relief and recovery phases. Three new task forces comprising representatives of the public
and private sectors were also formed under the President‟s Secretariat. The Task Force for Rescue
and Relief (TAFOR), the Task Force for to Rebuild the Nation (TAFREN), and the Task Force for
Logistics and Law and Order. At the district level, Disaster Management Authorities were appointed
to coordinate local relief efforts.

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

53Figure 10- Structure of the CNO

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54

Figure 11- Structure of the CNO

04.4. Flood and Land slides- May 2003
Response and Resettlement in Flood Effected Areas Following the May 2003 Floods andLandslides.
Torrential rains accompanied by heavy winds experienced in central and southwestern coastal
areas of Sri Lanka on 17 th and 18 May 2003 were the heaviest since 1947. Floodwaters damaged
over 20600 houses and destroyed 10,065 houses. Many buildings were submerged with power andtelephone lines and sections roads and bridges being destroyed. Numerous villages were totally or
partially submerged. Over 120,000 people had to be evacuated to camps. The persons either deador missing were assessed as 252. Some of those missing were buried in land slides. The worst
affected areas were the five districts of Ratnapura, Kalutara, Galle, Matara and Hambantota.

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Figure 8- Flood affected areas( Source: NDMC)

The following series of activities were undertaken to manage this extreme disaster event. The
immediate needs for emergency relief and reconstruction were assessed by a special team ofexperts and a detailed assessment of the impact of the floods was undertaken subsequently utilizing
the provincial administrative set up and the district technical committees.

Table 6- Situation Report – Flood 2003
As at 06th October, 2003
AffectedDistrict
Families
DeathsHambantota
Kalutara
Galle
MataraRatnapuraNuwara Eliya

2241
24555
28173
47642
34478
132

21
11
16
64
122
1

Grand Total

137221

235

Missing

DamagedHouses
Fully
Partly

17

17

585
944
1533
2145
3668
360

649
2330
4037
7201
9531
255

9235

24003
Source; NDMC

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As an immediate response 6740 wells that were flooded were cleaned and chlorinated to make themsuitable for use as drinking water sources. A total of 2678 latrines were rehabilitated with assistanceprovided by especially by UNICEF and other voluntary organizations.

Schools Hospitals and other infrastructure facilities were rehabilitated mobilizing the assistanceprovided by National and International donors. Credit facilities granted by the World Bank and the
Asian Development Bank were utilized for rehabilitation work in infrastructure facilities.

Assistance received by government of Sri Lanka

Assistances byKind of AssistanceIndia, Japan, Germany, Abu
Dhabi, Singapore, Oman,
Thailand, Malaysia, China,
Japan, Israel, Pakistan,
Singapore

Tents, Blankets, Plastic Sheets, Polyester
Tanks, Generators, Water Purification Plants,
Laboratory ,Chemicals for Water, Generators,
Clothes, Kitchen Equipments, Dry Rations, Fooditems, Water Pumps, Medical Equipments &Medicines

International Agencies

Baby Foods, Medicines & School Kits

UN Agencies

Relief Kits, Kitchen Equipments, Etc.
Source: NDMC

UN ASSISTANCE – Around 2 Million US$
UNHCR – US$ 250,000 worth Family Packs
UNICEF – US$ 630,000 worth Non Food Relief Item
WHO – US$ 280,000 – Emergency Health Kits for Persons, Medical Equipment & Technical Support
WFP –US$ 0.16 Million Food Supplies
UNDAC – Assisting GOSL for Request for Assistance Proposal
UNDP – OCHA US$ 128,000 Co-ordination/Information & 2040 Family Packs In the Pipeline
UNDP/OCHA: 100,000 US$
FAO: Conducting Assessment leading to 400,000 US$ Technical Co-operation Project
WFP: 105,000 MT of Food

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This experience gave rise to the creation of a programe for disaster preparedness and response
which included the following components• Establishment of a multi disciplinary National Disaster Operations Centre.

• Improvement in communication and information management and establishment of a resources
database.

• A Geographic Information System to determine priority areas for disaster mitigation andpreparedness and creation of suitable hazard maps.

• Conducting awareness creation at village, district and national levels including school children• Capacity building for national emergency response.

The rehabilitation and reconstruction programme of damaged housing were implemented with theaim of risk reduction in building in areas vulnerable to flood and landslides. The affected families
were settled in no risk areas, identified by the Scientists and Geologists.

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05. Countermeasures and International commitment for Disaster Reduction in
Sri Lanka
05.1.Road map for a „Safer Sri Lanka‟
Since the tsunami, there has been a renewed attempt to institutionalize a DRM framework in Sri
Lanka. The consensus is that ongoing policy and legislative efforts have to be complemented byadequately identifying risks, evaluating their differential impacts, developing strategies for their
management and adequately communicating the risk to all stakeholders at the community, provincial
and national levels, and this has contributed towards the conceptualization of this framework. There
has also been an affirmed need to address the underlying vulnerabilities with regard to strengthening
local

and

national

governancestructures,emphasizing

national

andcommunity-based

environmental resource management, and considering the differential nature of hazards andassociated vulnerabilities while formulating national action plans for poverty alleviation andinfrastructure for Sri Lanka. In acknowledging these needs, the Ministry for Disaster Management
has proposed a comprehensive framework
which will seek to identify and coordinate multi-stakeholder efforts in the next ten years through aholistic strategy or “Road Map” towards building a “Safer Sri Lanka”. The road map is broadly
focused on seven thematic components which are consistent with ongoing and past efforts in thefield of DRM and development planning in Sri Lanka. The strategy proposed by the DRM framework
for Sri Lanka seeks to cover the following areas:Policy, Institutional Mandates & Institutional Development including components such as the
preparation of a national policy for DM, reviewing and formalizing mandates, identifying thecapacity development needs of agencies to perform their DM functions; and including thesteps to implement policies that are already in place.



Hazard, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, comprising activities ranging from flood
simulation modelling in key river basins to the development of a vulnerability atlas for Sri

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59

Lanka. This will enable development planning which is sensitive to multiple hazards anddifferent kind of vulnerabilities.


Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems, incorporating elements to generate advancements inwarning for floods, cyclones, abnormal rainfall, drought and landslides, thus enabling
decision-makers to take much needed action even prior to the occurrence of a disaster.

Disaster Preparedness Planning and Response, minimizing the adverse impacts of adisaster through effective precautionary actions and timely adequate responses. Prioritized
activities include the development of a national emergency preparedness and response planand the establishment of emergency operation centers at the national, provincial and districtlevels.

Disaster Mitigation and Integration into Development Planning, encompassing activities
related to reducing the impact of droughts, preventing floods and landslides, and protecting
against storm surges, sea and coastal flooding by incorporating disaster risk considerations
into development plans.



CBDM, involving activities that recognize the fact that communities – though affected bydisasters – are also the first line of defense against them if they are well prepared.
Interventions proposed include mobilising community teams, creating a local network of
trained volunteers, establishing resource centres, and providing small grants to fund priority
projects by community teams.

Training, Education and Public Awareness, focusing on empowering the public with ways
and means to reduce disaster losses, and including a national awareness campaign
designating a “National Disaster Safety Day”, promoting disaster awareness amongprofessionals through training and among children via the school curriculum. These
components have been developed through a consultative process which has helped identify
gaps, needs, priorities and strategies for further action in Sri Lanka. The strategies andpriorities for particular projects have been developed by working groups comprised ofmultiple stakeholders, representing varied interests and capacities. The resulting conclusions
and priorities for action are consistent with the requirements and responsibilities of the Sri

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Lanka Disaster Management Act No. 13 of 2005, which the framework will work towards
implementing over the next five to ten years. The following paragraphs provide a briefsummary of the strengths and weakness of Sri Lanka‟s DM system.

05.2.Flood Mitigation:
The remains of ancient hydraulic civilization still functioning at its best found in the Dry Zone
implemented by ancient rulers demonstrate the evidence of remarkable human effort taken to
mitigate the droughts and ensure food security of the nation. Especially after the major flood in 1947
government implemented number of flood protection bunds major works was constructed to protect
the city of Colombo. Structural means were also implemented in other river basins to protect cities
along Kelani, Gin, Nilwala Rivers as a measure to control inundation and the consequent damages.
Since then these areas were never been affected. Decisions to implement these projects were
influenced by perceived destruction rather than on an economic analysis.

Flooding of Kelani Ganga has serious consequences as the outfall being near the capital ofColombo. When the flood level of Kelani Ganga is between 5 and 7 ft, the flood is defined as major
flood and during the period of 1930 to 1935 both banks of the Kalani Ganga near the city of Colombo
were provided with flood protection bunds. These bunds are capable of providing safety to the
Colombo city for a 25 year period. However due to encroachment and poor maintenance, acomplete rehabilitation of this flood protection scheme has now become urgent. The estimated costof this work is nearly 3 billion rupees however there are no real or indicators or forecast to take adecision to make a investment of such magnitude.

The Gin Ganga flood protection scheme was launched in 1975 with the financial support from thePeople‟s Republic of China. Protection is provided against of flood of 10 years return period and an
extent of 5000ha, of paddy has been protected from frequent flooding. Ten electrically driven
pumping units were installed to cater to the local drainage on the protected side. High cost of

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61maintenance and reduced threat of floods have rendered this installation somewhat neglected, insome cases and may not be possible to run in an emergency.

The Nilwala Ganga flood protection scheme was completed in 1993 and it provides protection to
5600ha.of paddy lands with three diesel driven pumping units. Of the three stages of project
implementation, only two stages were completed leaving out the last stage unattended. Even though
the scheme was originally designed for flood protection, the project was launched to provide
drainage facilities for low lying lands and therefore the pumps have to run everyday. Due to noncompletion of the third stage of the project and due to several other reasons, the scheme has notbeen very successful. Failure to complete the stage 3 of the project has also increased the threat offloods to Matara town.

Among the non structural flood mitigation methods, a flood forecasting system has been introduced
only in the case of Kelani Ganga, Forecasting of water levels in the river is done by means of four
upstream gauges and the data transmission is done with radio equipment. An organizational set up
and the necessary standing orders are available to facilitate coordination among several institutions
during a flood. This scheme prepared in 1968 was updated by the Irrigation Department in 1993
which can be considered as a comprehensive study to provide a detailed mitigation plan for the cityof Colombo.

Ratnapura is a town in upper basin of Kalu Ganga Which is subject to frequent flooding. However
due to limited travel time of the flood wave, it is not possible to warn the people. At present, there is
no structural plan to mitigate flood in Kalu Ganga. Among the structural measures taken during therecent past by the Government to control floods, both Gin Ganga and Nilwala Ganga flood protection
scheme can be highlighted. These two Projects are provided with safety measures against of floodof 10 years return period.

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

62The flood protection study for Kelani Ganga was done in 1990 under DANIDA aid and this projectprovided the necessary computer facilities and soft ware to model Kelani Ganga. Action is being
taken by the Department of Irrigation to prepare a proposal for funding by the world metrologicalorganization to install a real-time flood forecasting system for Kelani Ganga. This will serve as a pilot
Project. Flood protection schemes implemented so far has been able to minimize the loss of lives.

05.3.Land slide Mitigation:
Landslides which are often triggered by intense heavy rains are an increasing problem due todevelopment activities and urbanization. In Sri Lanka, there are major areas in seven districts(Nuwaraeliya, Badulla, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Kandy, Matale and Kalutara) which are prone tolandslide.

With the technical and financial assistance from UNDP/UNCHS Landslide Hazard Mapping in
Badulla and Nuwaraeliya districts had been carried out by the National Building Research
Organization (NBRO). Preparation of hazard maps for Ratnapura and Kegalle districts wascompleted by NBRO and the Kandy District Mapping is in progress under the Government Grant.

The main objective of the Land slide Hazard Mapping (LHMP) was to identify areas vulnerable tolandslide hazard and establish good engineering practices in planning and construction throughconsultancy services, creation of public awareness, introduction of guidelines to ensure proper
construction procedures with the ultimate aim of landslide hazard mitigation.

05.4.Transition Recovery Support to Flood and Landslides Disasters in Sri Lanka.
This is a project jointly implemented by the NDMC of the Ministry of Women Empowerment andSocial welfare and the UNDP SRI LANKA. It has a component for recovery from the 2003 floods andlandslide disasters which includes incorporating risk reduction measures and a component for risk
reduction implemented in partnership with the national, district, divisional and village levelgovernment administration in the area of disaster risk management.

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The awareness and interested generated for disaster risk mitigation in the affected districts following
the May 2003 flood and landslides events were quite high. This became an invaluable opportunity
for the NDMC and the UNDP Sri Lanka in partnership with the district administration to conduct
lessons learnt workshops in all the five affected districts. These workshops provide a platform for
relevant stakeholders from both national and district levels to revisit the disaster events and review
what aspects of response and recovery had been done right and what aspects needed improvement.
The workshops also led to the formulation of district disaster preparedness and response plans in
the five districts and establishment of disaster management committees, in line with the draft
National disaster management plan. In addition, the district administrations were mobilized toengage in preparation of divisional level plans and community contingency plans. Gradually the
focus is being shifted from disaster response to disaster risk reduction by linking the vulnerability
reduction and mitigation activities identified in the divisional plans with the development plans andthe budgets.

Simultaneously, recognizing that NDMC at the national level is best positioned to act as a repositoryof disaster related information and coordinate response, the UNDP Sri Lanka is assisting NDMC
setup a disaster database that will capture occurrences of all natural disasters over the last 30 years.
This will provide a much needed policy tool to analyses trends and patterns of the occurrences ofdisasters. In addition UNDP Sri Lanka is also working with NDMC in strengthening its information
coordination and dissemination capacities by training its staff and setting up its website.

05.5.Drought Mitigation:
Table

Drought control projects in Kalutara districts, 2008-2009

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

64Rain Water Harvesting Project in Monaragala and Hambantota Districts
Drinking water shortage in the drought prone areas of Monaragala and Hambantota districts has
become a recurring problem during drought periods for the residents of these areas. Depletion of the
supply in the regular water sources during drought and the ill effects of using tube well water for
drinking purpose due to the preference of hardness and soluble fluorides, subject the poor people in
the area to serve hardships.

In order to mitigate such impacts of drought the NDMC has implemented a pilot project on rainwater
harvesting in the most vulnerable villages of Meegaswewa, Kotiyagala, Ihalawa, Kumbukwewa in thetwo districts targeting 180 families with 900 beneficiaries. The basic scope of the proposal was toupgrade the roofs of houses to a suitable level to serve as catchments for rainwater and constructwater tanks in the premises to store the water.

Objective of the pilot project was to test out the sustainability and wide spread application of the
project concept within the capacity limitations of the participants. NDMC accordingly expected toreach out to a larger number of beneficiaries in the next phase in association with the Open
University of Sri Lanka, ITDG, Divisional Secretary, the Social Services Officer, Samurdi
Development Officer and Agricultural Production Assistants attached to the Divisional Secretariats.

The concept included providing technical assistant and financial grants by NDMC and the above
partners to the beneficiary families to supplement the cost sharing contributions being made by themin cash and kind. A part of the local building materials and unskilled labour required came as thecontribution from the beneficiary family, which was about 25% of the total cost.

05.6.Disaster Risk Information Management
A recent initiative by the UNDP Sri Lanka to assist in building a systemic historical disaster inventory
that covers a 25-30 year period of disaster losses has led to the NDMC to commence an activity withthe following objectives.

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

65

To take stock of disaster information sources and existing or developing disaster information
systems and inventories in Sri Lanka.

To assess the possibility of adaptation in Sri Lanka the DisInventar methodology which has
been successfully implemented in some Latin American countries and in India and Nepal.

05.7.Sri Lanka Urban Multi-hazard Disaster Mitigation Project (SLUMDMP)In September1997 Centre for Housing Planning and Building (CHPB) was selected by the USAID
for the management of the Sri Lanka Urban Multi-Hazard Disaster Mitigation Project (SLUMDMP),
which is the Sri Lanka country project in a programme involving several Asian countries under the
Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Programme (AUDMP). This programme is implemented by the
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) in Bangkok, Thailand and funded by the USAID. The
Sri Lankan project is implemented by the CHPB in collaboration with the National Building Research
Organization (NBRO) and the Urban Development Authority (UDA) providing the technical inputs.
The project includes demonstration, training, information and networking activities related to urban
disasters. Apart from the demonstration project activities involving activities related to mitigation ofnatural hazards in the Ratnapura MC, there is a considerable training component in the project,which is carried out by the CHPB. Disaster mitigation activities are mostly concerned with integrationof natural hazard aspect in the planning process and guidelines for construction in hazard prone
areas. Therefore the project involves a major training component for engineers and technical officersof local authorities, and also planners in the UDA.

The project goal: Reduced natural disaster vulnerability of urban populations, infrastructure, lifeline
facilities and shelter in Sri Lanka.

The project objective: Establishment of sustainable public and private sector mechanisms fordisaster mitigation in targeted urban areas of Sri Lanka

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

66The responsibilities of National Building Research Organization (NBRO) under the
Ministry of Disaster Management(DMC)
The National Building Research Organization is an institute integrated with an in-house
multidisciplinary team of professionals. Those are directly involved to foster, promote and sustain
Research and Development work and provide technical services to the housing, building andconstruction sectors, with a view to improving the quality of life when minimizing the effect of Naturaland Geological disaster such as Landslides, Floods, Tsunami and Earthquake. This is the missionof organization and to achieve the above target following major services offered provided by National
Building Research Organization. (Annexure 0 : NBRO 2010 Profile)1.

Consultancy service in the field of Natural disaster such as geological disaster and Hydrometrological disaster, specially in the field of landslide disaster mitigation and slope stability
measures.

2.

Total consultancy service package for building project.

3.

Geotechnical and foundation engineering, soil investigation and testing.

4.

Testing, quality control of building materials and related research and development works.

5.

Human settlement planning, design of cost effective housing.

6.

Environmental monitoring and assessment of EIA, IEE for development projects.

Corporate Objectives
01. Support and maintain applied research on reducing the risk on human life, property and theenvironment of Sri Lanka that is being threatened by certain disasters taking place.
Goal : To become the focal point on disaster related research.
02. Assist National Disaster Management Council, Ministry for Disaster Management and Human
Rights and other affiliated institutions in disaster risk reduction.
Goal : To become a contributing institution to line ministry in achieving its mission.
03. Study landslide hazards in Sri lanka in view of monitoring, prediction and prevention andmitigation.
Goal : To be the consultative body for landslide.
04. Develop and maintain scientific knowledge and information bases on natural andmanmadedisasters, assessment, prediction, mitigation and management in Sri Lanka especially in focusedareas such as geo- hazards, hazards on air, soil & water pollution, disposal of waste including
hazardous waste, pollution related epidemics and hazards related to stability of buildings andstructures.

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

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Goal :To become the line agency with institutional capacity and scientific data base.
05. Provide technical advice and solutions to state, local governments, international organizations,private institutions, commercial institutions, business organizations and to the citizens of thecountry, as a fee- paid service or otherwise, consultancy services on the fields that the institution
has expertise, (i.e. building materials, environment, human settlements, geotechnicalengineering, landslide studies and project management).
Goal :To ensure effective utilization of technical competence of staff, as individual
divisions and as an institution & to generate revenue.
06. Provide quality testing services of three technical laboratories of the organization for building
materials, environment & geotechnical engineering.

Internal Structure of NBRO
National Building Research Organization (NBRO) is a statutory institution coming under the purview
of Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights. NBRO has been formed in 1984 by themerge of former Building Research Institute (BRI) of the State Engineering Corporation (SEC) andthe soil Testing Laboratory of the Department of Buildings. Today the NBRO has seven divisions
such as Landslide Studies and Services Division, Geotechnical Division, Building Material Division,
Project Management Division, Environmental Division, Human Settlement Division, Human
Resource Management Division and Finance Division. Under the supervision of Director General,these divisions are guided by directors appointed for each division. (Annexure 0 : Organization chart)

Landslide Studies and Services Division (LSSD)
Provide service to the nation by carrying out R&D for the utilization of technologically problematic
areas such as low-lying, landslide-prone & derelict land for human settlements
Latest technology equipments, experience and knowledge of the staff, site offices in appropriate
place are facilitated to achieve the above objectives.

LSSD carried out the following special programs in 2007 to present
1.

Awareness creation and training:

The following workshops were conducted by the LSSD which were funded by various donors
and institutions such as UNDP, DMC, etc. In addition, LSSD in many occasions madepresentations at many workshop arranged by various organisations such as SLIDA etc.

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

68DistrictKegalleKandy
MataleNuwara Eliya
Kalutara
Ratnapura

No. of Workshops
6
5
6
42
6
5

Reduce the Landslide Risk of “Peradeniya Landslide” in Sri Lanka.

Phots show the Peradeniya Landslide occurred in 2006.Due to this failure one shop (Udaya Stores)
was completely damaged .

Peradeniya town is located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka and is the gateway to the National
Heritage City of Kandy. Following the heavy rainfall from 9 th – 11th November 2006, a mass of soil
and rock blocks detached from the upper slope of the hill at Peradeniya town on 11 th November
2006 at about 21.00 hrs. One shop at the foot hill was completely destroyed and a few other shops
were partly damaged.

The main road towards the Kandy and Gampola from Colombo wascompletely blocked due to the debris of this slide. With this incident, National Building Research
Organisation (NBRO) of Sri Lanka assessed the slope to prevent remaining buildings from theimmediate risk of damage and issued a preliminary investigation report to the relevant authorities for
immediate actions. Removal of all the debris and regrading the upper slope were the main
recommendations included in the preliminary report. The main road had to close for a couple ofweeks till the activities were completed. Unstable rock blocks were removed from the upper slopeby blasting and earth dam was constructed at the toe region of the slope to stop any debris coming

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

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from the upper slope. Main bus halting place had to be shifted and vehicle traffic was controlled byprohibiting to stop the vehicles on either side of the road from Peradeniya Bridge to Gannoruwa roadjunction.
With the requests made by the government, NBRO continued the detailed investigation to evaluate
the level of hazard and to identify the required permanent mitigation measures to reduce the risk
from the future slope failure to the Peradeniya Town.

Long term risk reduction measures for the potential landslide at Padiyapelella Town

Padiyapalella Town with potential landslide- 2007

With the heavy rainfall from 11th -12th January 2007, large number of landslides occurred at the partsof Central province. Especially, both of Haguranketha and Walapane divisional secretariat areas
were severely affected from those landslides and number of deaths, injuries and property damages
were reported. Upon the request made by GA of N‟Eliya and AGA‟s of the above divisions,preliminary investigations were conducted by the National Building Research Organization (NBRO)
during the last period. According to the findings of the above investigations, it can be concluded thatareas susceptible for landslides are grater than the investigated number of landslides, which are
already failed. Therefore, that was one of the reasons to identify more than thousands of families asa direct victims of landslides and NBRO advised to evacuate those families and relocate them insafer place due to impracticability of mitigation through engineered measures. But considering thelevel of risk and importance, that may required to apply such engineered solution in selective areas.

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

70Due to sociological, agricultural, economical and historical importance of places as well as landdemand in the area, commercial places such as towns, major roads, and other populated places
such as schools and hospitals may be required to retrofit by adopting suitable mitigation measures.
Padiyapelella town, Maturata town, Mahawewa LS with Kubalgamuwa Keerthibandara School andWalapane-Ragala road at Diyanilla can be noted as most suitable examples to pay our attention to
reduce the existing vulnerability with adopting suitable remedial measures. But findings of thosepreliminary investigations were insufficient to propose suitable remedial and therefore NBRO has
proposed to conduct detail investigations to evaluate the level of hazard and to identify the required
measures to reduce the risk from slope instabilities to Padiyapelella town as well as other locations
specified in the above.

Mahawewa , Meeriyagolla- Walapane Landslide Risk Reduction Modal
Site project under Disaster Risk management (DRM) Programme

Photo shows the

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

71Photo shows the Surveying of landslide

Photo shows the conducting awearness for school
childeren

Even though landslide is a natural hazard and preventing the occurrence of it is extremelycomplicated, the time has come to mitigate the damage to the life and the property throughintroducing a disaster management policy.
Within such background, a landslide mitigation project for the Mahawewa and Kumbalgama unstablearea was implemented by the National Building Research Organisation under the grant from UNDP.
On January 11, 2007, due to heavy rain which unexpectedly fell on Walapane division, a landslide
occurred in Mahawewa area causing a vast damage to the lives and property of the area. The
awareness programmes which had been already held by the geologists of the Landslide Studies andServices Division of the National Building Research Organisation had helped the people and thestudents in the Keerthibandarapura school to protect their lives.
Mahawewa and Meeriyagolla areas in Kumbalgamuwa GN Division in Walapane Division have been
selected as a pilot project for fulfilling the aim of landslide mitigation. At present, the project area
has been mapped for its topographical and geological details. The objective of this project is tointroduce a successful landslide mitigation method through controlling the surface drainage andincreasing the awareness of landslides among the resident in the area.

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Mapping and the mitigation work are carried out by Geologist, HML Indrathilake, Dinesh
Hemachandra and Technical officer, T. Rasaroopan along with a group of junior geologists andtechnical officers.
The financial support of the UNDP and the coordination of the Disaster Management Centre for the
successful implementation of this project is highly appreciated.

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka.

73References
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Lessons Learned from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation
Institution, January 2005, Japan
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santikarma saha gami natya sampradaya. Colombo 1990.
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Lanka. New York, 1974. Makulloluwa, W.B. Dances of Sri Lanka, Colombo, 1976. Molamure, Arthur. "The
Outlook for Kandyan Dancing," In Some Aspects of Traditional Sinhalese Culture, edited by Ralph Pieris,
Peradeniya, 1956.
Fernando, T.K. and L. Chandrapala, 1995. Climate variability in Sri Lanka – A study on Trends of air
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Arambepola, N.M.S.I., Bandara, R.M.S., Pallewela, P.P.D.H. (1997), Landslide Hazard Zonation Mappingand Geoenviornmental Problems Associated with the Occurrence of Landslides, Proceedings of CBRI
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Bhandari, R.K., Perera, M.P.K., Weerasinghe, K.M. (1996), Application of GIS in Landslide Hazard
Mapping at the NBRO, Procedings of the First GIS User Group Conference.

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