| Editorial | ||||
 |
||||
Mitigation
is the key The Government is now embroiled in the thorny issue of the 100-metre buffer zone by the coast where construction of new residences is to be prohibited. While the Government has every right and indeed a duty to protect its coast and its people, what is not clear is whether this measure is intended to protect the people from another tsunami. If that is the case, there seems little logic in the exercise for it is evident to those who have seen the devastation caused by the tsunami in certain townships, that the 100-metre rule is an exercise in futility. And so, while everything now revolves round the tsunami past, and the tsunami future, we have taken our focus completely off the floods, cyclones, landslides and even the droughts that affect our people year in and year out, with disturbing regularity. The tsunami has reached superstar status because of its monstrous devastation. But, floods, cyclones, landslides and droughts have also caused death, destruction and displacement over the years. In 2002, landslides and floods caused thousands of families to be displaced. What have we learnt from this? Little it seems, according to an account from our reporters who visited these landslide-prone areas of Sri Lanka together with senior officials from the Institute of Engineers (please see the Opposite Editorial page for their report). The engineers have suggested that the 2002 Draft Bill on Disaster Counter Measures be withdrawn. In its place they propose a Disaster Mitigation and Management Authority -- a DIMMA as they call it -- an Authority where the different agencies dealing with the subject will function under one roof. There is obvious logic in their argument. They point to the different agencies presently existing, ranging from the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau and the Road Development Authority to the Meteorological Department and a host of other affiliated Government agencies that rarely exchange information and almost never act in unison. It is like a body where the limbs are not co-ordinated and the mind is elsewhere. Much of the damage caused by even the superstar tsunami has been linked to day-to-day negligence on the part of the different Government agencies in policing the environment, from the seabed (coral mining) to the mountains (dangerous methods of home gardens) and forests (illicit felling of trees). There is much debate over the phenomenon of what looked like huge plumes of black smoke that brought forth black water with the tsunami tidal waves. It was like a demon coming at you, eyewitnesses said. A report in this issue from Navalady in Batticaloa quotes the coroner of the area as saying how people who survived the tsunami and were treated in hospital, died later due to consumption of this 'black water'. This phenomenon has been explained by experts as pure garbage, pollutants and toxins coupled with waste oil dumped by international shipping lines -- all of which are not monitored by Sri Lankan authorities -- churning up the sludge near the reef to cause the 'black water'. There is much that needs to be done for Disaster Mitigation. As in the case of everyday good health, prevention is better than cure, when it comes to impending disasters. The plain truth is that Sri Lankan administrators led by politicians have got accustomed to reacting to disasters rather than acting to mitigate them. Most natural disasters cannot really be prevented. Even the most powerful nations in the world cannot stop the forces of nature in the form of floods, typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis and the like. But the key word is mitigation -- to make less intense the damage that will be caused. Are we working towards this end? Naturally, the traumatised people of Sri Lanka are still having nightmares fearing that the deadly waves will hit them again. What will probably come sooner than a tsunami is a flood. If one travels around the North Central Province, some roads are already slightly under water. Our reporters say that a landslide is in the making in the Sabaragamuwa and Uva foothills. In Puttalam, the illegal mining of the sand dunes that for years stood as a natural shield against nature's wrath is exposing that town to a potential disaster. The people of Seenigama near Hikkaduwa now regret their illicit mining of coral which many say was a contributory factor to the extraordinary devastation that town had to face last month. We need to move away from Disaster Management to Disaster Mitigation, and we hope this time at least, politicians from all parties will heed the views of the experts and act on their advice. And act quickly. |
||||
ADVERTISING
OFFICE
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT No.
47, W.A.D. Ramanayake Mawatha, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka.
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
