Flooding and Rainwater Running Unutilised to Sea Srilanka
As has been usual in Sri Lanka, at every monsoon season especially during the South-West monsoon flooding, landslides and displacement of citizens have become normal. Every year this fact has highlighted and called on authorities to draw up plans to prevent these disasters.
To date, 16 people have died 5 remain missing and 84,749 persons have been displaced. Sadly, nothing has changed. Media reports show 2017 was perhaps the worst year since torrential rains soaked the country in May 2003. The Disaster Management Centre reported more than 150 deaths, over 1,800 damaged homes and almost half a million people becoming homeless.
In May 2003 after heavy monsoon rains, villages in the South and Southwest of the country were struck by flash floods, landslides and mudslides on 17 May. Several rivers overflowed, inundating large tracts of land. Numerous villages were totally or partially submerged. Floodwater and landslides cut off many roads. According to government figures, nearly 146,000 families were affected while 250 people were killed. Approximately 10,000 houses were destroyed and another 30,000 houses were partially destroyed.
Flooding during the South-West Monsoon has almost become normal. The only difference has been the scale of damage over the years. It also means that so much of water is running waste into the sea. At the same time, we know the lands in the dry zone from Anuradhapura to Jaffna are starving for water.
Again the provision of pipe-borne water to Colombo is extremely limited and dependent on waters from the Ambatale Wewa. During the prolonged dry weather the water at this reservoir tends to almost dry. In turn, it leads to calls for residents to use water sparingly. With a large number of offices and factories located in the Colombo district industrial production is adversely affected.
Isn’t it time to governing authorities, not let a single drop of rain which falls on the soil run unutilised to the sea and create great Irrigation systems and make use of the bounties nature has provided us, rather than wail over the miseries of flooding and its attendant disasters.
