Eleven years after the 2004 tsunami:

The risk of undermining risk

by Ranil Wijayapala

Eleven years ago, many Sri Lankans who did not know the word tsunami - added the Japanese word to their vocabulary; a single word associated with devastation and descriptive of the biggest natural disaster the island faced in recorded history.

Tsunami means 'harbour wave' or high sea waves caused by an earthquake or other disturbance.

Together with the tsunami came a costly lesson for the unprepared island; about massive human loss and property destruction. Over 30,000 lives were lost in an hour while damages to property were estimated to be close to US$ 1 billion. The trauma caused to the population in addition to other forms of loss, remains incalculable.

Eleven years on, it seems that there are many lessons still to be learnt: the reason for Sri Lanka, a coastal nation considered at low risk, to still commemorate the December 26 tsunami, in a bid to keep the idea of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) alive.

According to Anoja Seneviratne, Director Mitigation, Research and Development, Disaster Management Centre, since the 2004 tsunami, Sri Lanka's awareness levels have improved in leaps and bounds. In addition, emergency operation mechanisms and early warning systems have been quickly put in place. What is disappointing is the public response to keeping their 2004 memories alive to stay safe.

The first step in post tsunami was to appoint a Parliament Select Committee to look into the disaster management systems available in the country. From that flowed a second initiative of formulating the necessary institutional and legal framework to manage future disasters.

Policy initiatives

Five months later, a National Disaster Management Act was introduced, creating an apex body - the National Council for Disaster Management -headed by the President.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) was established to implement decisions taken by the National Council and the process was laid out through a new Disaster Management Policy.

"The National Disaster Management Policy promotes human safety as the first priority and minimum damage to the physical and mental health, reduction of damages to infrastructure and properties as well as the development process," Seneviratne added.

Following the legislative and institutional framework, a National Disaster Management Plan, National Emergency Operations Plan and Disaster Management Plans for all the ministries and public institutions were created. The DMC-the central co-ordinating body was set up with 25 Disaster Management Coordinating Committees in all districts. Accordingly, the country now enjoys the institutional framework to ensure 'disaster risk reduction, disaster management, disaster response, disaster risk management.'

At present, there are 77 Tsunami Early Warning Towers, covering the entire coastal belt. DMC is linked to the international tsunami monitoring and early warning systems, including the Indian, Australian, Japanese and Pacific early warning networks.

The DMC works closely with the administrative mechanism at the level of District Secretaries and Divisional Secretaries, to reach the grassroots. The dissemination of warnings is generally carried out with the help of the army, police and communication networks.

Infrastructure protection

An important aspect in DRR is the attention paid to damage to infrastructure, especially in the coastal areas.

"There is new building construction and maintenance guidelines to ensure the structures are tsunami-safe and resilient. We support new technology, use of construction methods and use of material that can help create disaster-safe buildings, both public and private," added Seneviratne.

"Buffer zones were created to regulate the coastal areas where private homes and business structures. We have a thriving coastal tourism industry. The buffer zones are key to ensuring the protection of the people and structures. It's the first line of defence," explained Seneviratne, who said, it was a constant battle to educate protesting citizens as to why a buffer zone is necessary.

"We also request them have their buildings insured to mitigate financial loss and reconstruction costs."

Though a main feature in keeping the public informed and updated, a key problem faced by the authorities is the conversion of mock drills into a mockery by populations at risk. "Often, only women attend the tsunami drills, making it a redundant exercise. Most men in the tsunami prone areas don't attend drills, making it difficult for us to keep entire communitiews risk-prepared," Seneviratne lamented.