Man-made natural disasters

UNTIL a few years ago, Sri Lanka was regarded as a paradise untouched by the ravages of natural disasters. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes and snowstorms were nothing more than picturesque images to the average citizen of this country. The 2004 tsunami disaster changed that at a cost of more than 35,000 lives, but even so, the nation recovered from that tragedy, unconvinced that natural disasters would become a regular phenomenon in this land. The weeks gone by should force us to rethink this complacent assumption. The country has been hit by floods heralding the onset of the southwest monsoon. Hundreds of thousands have been rendered homeless overnight, and more than two dozen people have died.

This week saw many regions of Colombo city being submerged because of a few hours of torrential rain. …Ironically, even parliament was not spared, and the house had to adjourn early, to enable honourable MPs to return to their constituencies, without getting their ‘feet wet’. And the lingering question, which must be uppermost in the minds of most, is whether these events are the results of the wrath of nature at all. Or, as many environmentalists suspect, is this the result of compromising nature for the expediency of a fast buck?

It is a fact that many major cities in this country, including Colombo, are ill-planned. They have evolved from the colonial era in an ad-hoc manner, in keeping with the needs of the times. In such circumstances, environmental concerns have played only a minor role, if at all. What is alarming though is that this ‘development’, if it can be called that, continues to this day. Unauthorised buildings are erected, industrial con cerns come into operation, marshy lands are being filled up, only to be resold at a hand some profit, and garbage is be ing dumped with gay aban don. It is as if no one needs to ask anyone whether there is a protocol or procedure to fol low in these matters. ...This type of nefarious activity has been a cancer gnawing away at our environment, slowly but steadily for many deca des…. Now, however, events appear to have reached a make-or-break stage, as last week’s flashfloods amply demonstrated. The recent del uge and all the disasters that it brought upon us is a rude reminder that there will be more to follow if we do not put our country and its eco systems in order.

…If the whip is not cracked hard enough, chances are that, the perpetrators of these deeds will continue their work unhindered and unconcerned. Politically, this is an opportune moment to do so. A new government — even if it has mostly old faces in it — has just assumed office. There are no national elections on the horizon for the next half a dozen years, so unpopular measures can be taken, if they are necessary in the long run. Thus there is an immense responsibility resting in the hands of the powers that be: the ministers in charge of the environment, housing and construction and disaster management, and the secretary of defence….