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| Sunday, 5 June 2005 |
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Safety measures for disasters by NDMC by Jayantha Sri Nissanka Since independence Government has not thought of a disaster management and mitigation plan until 1996. Maybe as we were not threatened by many disasters. However, the fact that Sri Lanka has reached the disaster prone status like India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal was shocking news. The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) was established in 1996 in an adhoc manner under the Ministry of Social Services. Scope of work of the NDMC was only restricted to conduct workshops and education programmes on disasters for Government officials and the public. However, ever since the tsunami hit the country killing about 40,000 people and destroying Rs. 300 billion worth of properties, our leaders realised the importance of a powerful NDMC. The NDMC is running today with nine persons in the staff including the driver. That shows the importance given to the NDMC work. However, the Disaster Management Act which was passed recently plans to recruit more officials and extend more facilities for the NDMC with the objective of predicting future disasters to save lives and properties and expedite mitigation activities. Though Sri Lanka was not threatened with many disasters before 1980, according to NDMC Director N. D. Hettiarchchi, Sri Lanka is vulnerable today to more disasters mainly due to natural and man made reasons. He says the tsunami is a rare occurrence but Sri Lanka is mostly hit by floods, landslides and drought. "We were not frequently experiencing floods and droughts in the past but today it has become a part of the lives of some people in vulnerable areas. Thousands of our poor people suffer due to floods and droughts every year". Hettiachchi blamed that Sri Lankans have pushed the country to a disaster prone status by committing anti-environmental acts. When asked reasons for frequent floods and droughts, Hettiarchchi said that mostly some Lankans are responsible for it. Floods, landslides and droughts are the result of deforestation, sand and gem mining, unauthorised structures, improper land use pattern, filling of marshy lands and destroying of mangroves, coral, etc. "We can mitigate most of these disasters by ensuring the conservation of available natural resources in order to lift the country out of disaster prone status", he further said. Of the total disasters experienced by Sri Lanka, 60 percent are due to floods. Hettiarchchi noted that droughts and landslides can be controlled by eliminating deforestation and introducing better usage of lands in the vulnerable areas. Impact of droughts can be minimised by introducing rain water harvesting, drip irrigation, agro well and rainwater ponds, etc. He emphasised that a strong organisation and institutional arrangement with modern high tech facilities are required to cope with the impact of future disasters. The new Act intends to set up 25 district level committees and 324 divisional committees. The NDMC is also negotiating with Japan to establish an effective communication system like a radio link to pass early warnings to district and regional committees and police stations. He also emphasised to set up a regional disaster warning centre with the help of countries in the region to catch alarms issued by the Hawaii Tsunami Centre and Japan Meterology Centre. Both these Centres issue alarms every 24 hours. According to the new Act, Director General of the NDMC has been given the authority to issue alarms to media and other relevant officials. Meterological Department and Geological Survey and Mines Bureau will closely work with the NDMC. After the tsunami on December 26 last year, lack of coordination among Government authorities delayed the relief work and rescue operations. In order to overcome such loopholes, the new Act plans to introduce coordination, preparedness, mitigation, professional development, administration, recovery, community awareness, policy planning, information, risk and prevention, research, etc. Our neighbouring country, India has already developed the Multy Hazard Safety Measures (MHSM) in coastal areas to avert future disasters. Some of the features in their strategies are: Adopting integrated multi hazard approach with emphasis on cyclone and tsunami risk mitigation, implementation of early warning system for cyclones and tsunamis, streamlining relief distribution system in disaster affected areas, evacuation plans, strengthening of academic centres in order to improve disaster prevention, reduction and mitigation capabilities. They have also designed structural measures such as construction of cyclone shelters, plantation of mangroves and coastal forests along the coast line, construction of a sea wall in identified areas, preservation of corals, development of breakwaters along the coast to provide necessary cushion against cyclone and tsunami hazards, development of tsunami detection, forecasting and warning dissemination centres, development of a bio-shield which is a narrow strip of land along coastline as a disaster management sanctuary, identification of vulnerable structures and appropriate measures for tsunami and cyclone resistance. The NDMC has also prepared a plan for disaster management and has presented to the Government. The Government has not given the approval yet. However, India before the preparation of the MHSM plan, the draft proposals were made available to a wide public debate. They have also emphasised a greater role from the media in the disaster mitigation and recovery activities. |
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