News
A beep in time… Was the disaster avoidable?
View(s):By Tharushi Weerasinghe and Dilushi Wijesinghe
As the country grapples with the aftermath of floods and landslides caused by Cyclone Ditwah, allegations of negligence and preparedness mismanagement are being levelled against the government agencies tasked with monitoring and managing disaster situations.
Contradicting reports and statements have been made by the Meteorology Department, Disaster Management Centre and the Irrigation Department, the main institutions tasked with the inter-agency coordination during a time of disaster, about when warnings on the disaster, and the consequent response mechanism were activated.
Meteorology Director General Athula Karunanayake has reportedly said he first issued public warnings on November 12, when a low-pressure system began forming in the Bay of Bengal, and called for a joint mechanism to prepare for heavy rain. Yet despite these early signals, the first red alerts predicting extreme rainfall were only issued on the night of November 25—nearly two weeks later.
Scenes at the Disaster Management Centre
Multiple official sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, allege that the Meteorology Department significantly downplayed the scale of the impending rainfall in its inter-agency briefings, forecasting between 75 and 150 mm. In reality, rainfall in some of the worst-hit areas later surged to nearly 1,000 mm.
Officials insist that warnings were sent out but ignored. According to Deputy Director DMC, Pradeep Kodipilli, the DMC sent out its first warnings on 16th November. “We have been sending daily updates with weather reports and warnings since the 16th, and on the 25th, we held a press conference with the heads of the Meteorology and Irrigation Departments,” he noted.
The DMC’s first red alert–the last and most severe warning in a three-tier system–was first issued on the 27th of November. “People in these areas are aware that a red alert is an immediate evacuation order and know to start preparing to leave when an amber alert is issued.” According to Mr. Kodipilli, the National Building Research Organisation has marked 14,000 houses as at risk, and residents have been informed of the protocol when warnings are issued.
“But many people ignored warnings and refused to evacuate.” The DMC holds that, despite awareness and, in some cases, government-distributed home early warning equipment, at-risk residents refused to respond. “Especially in areas like Kolonnawa, where people in flood risk areas were repeatedly asked to leave but refused, we had to divert so many resources for search and rescue for people who had plenty of time to evacuate.”
“No one can say they were not informed because even before the floods happened around the Kelani River Police went around making announcements with loudspeakers.” Mr. Kodipilli pointed out that no fishermen were harmed at sea because they heeded early warnings. “The DMC regional office is also usually placed within the District Secretariat office, which means direct communications are happening between the agencies.”
When the early warning comes, the safety centres are set up, and the Grama Sevaka Niladhari in each area has to amplify communications of the process to their areas. However, the Sunday Times found that in many places, Grama Sevaka Niladharis failed to communicate with the people in their divisions.
“I called to ask my Grama Sevaka whether our road was at risk and if I should move so I could prepare because I had not received any communications about it even by the 29th,” said Nilu Perera, a 48-year-old mom of three from Gothatuwa. “She told me she had no way of knowing if my street was at risk and told me she would inform the WhatsApp group (which I was not aware of) or that I would find out through the “grapevine” if we had to evacuate.” Nilu has a son with autism and vision issues living with her.
Mr. Kodipilli acknowledges that gaps may exist along the communication line from the agencies to the local government ecosystem. “But these training and awareness sessions are done regularly for the relevant stakeholders, and saying ‘I don’t know’ is not a valid response.”
According to Mr. Kodipilli, the DMC has a 15-method early warning communication system which includes a 32 Mn (the total number of DMC-recognised, active SIMs in Sri Lanka) SMS alert system, direct comms with each tri-force camp, the police, a network-style communication platform with all 14,000 Divisional Secretariats, and 25 District Secretariats as well as 30,000 other key contacts which include provincial media correspondents.
The Sunday Times reached out to residents and area correspondents in the top 10 worst-affected districts (out of 22) gazetted in the declaration of national disaster-affected areas to confirm if any communications had occurred. The responses were mixed.
In Kegalle, the first warning SMS to an area correspondent had come on 25th November. Local Grama Sevakas in some at-risk areas had also warned people and later evacuated them to safety centres in government and private vehicles. “In one area, there was a strip of 5 landslide risk houses and all but one building evacuated,” the correspondent noted. The building whose owners refused to leave was being used as a Hela Bojun Hala until the walls of the building burst and the workers ran out. The landslide wiped the entire strip of buildings out within the next 15 minutes.
But in most other areas, the Sunday Times found that many people had no idea the disaster was coming. In Kandy, multiple sources claimed they did not receive any mobile alerts or warnings. “The Officer-in-charge of the Peradeniya police informed us that the gates of the Kotmale Dam would be opened, but no communications were made to residents, and any warnings only came after the city was underwater,” the correspondent noted.
A 25-year-old law student residing within walking distance from the Kandy court complex said that she received a text message about landslide risks during the morning hours of the 29th, but no communications about floods, which she ended up being trapped by. “I found out our area got flooded because of Facebook posts about it.” The entire lower floor of the court complex was flooded, damaging four court record rooms, the law library, and several other areas. “The lower level of the Lawyers’ Office complex, including my father’s office, was also completely submerged.” So far, around 62 offices have been damaged. The security officer fled to the third floor and had to be rescued by boat the next morning.
In Nuwara Eliya, there were no SMS alerts sent, and the first warning came on 26th November. The District Secretary was also unable to reach people for the next three days due to network failures and had informed area correspondents that they did not receive any cyclone warnings. A landslide warning was issued by the DS office on Friday.
Warnings also eluded many in Badulla, according to Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman D.M. Ajith Kumara, who noted that his office issued a landslide warning on Friday. “People evacuated based on their own awareness, not because any official warnings were sent,” he noted. The Welimada Pradeshiya Sabha secretary, V.P. Jinendrasena, also noted that no warnings were sent by authorities and that all preparations had been for a “normal rainy situation, not a cyclone.” “People left early because they had experienced landslides before,” noted Ven. Vil Oya Panyathilaka Thero, also from Welimada. People had evacuated as soon as the ground cracked and water began to seep out. “The GAs and government officials, including development officers, only got in touch with people after they had already moved to safety.”
Another resident from Colombo left for a trip with his family for school vacations on 26th morning and arrived in Nanu Oya that night when it started raining. “Neither our hosts nor we had any inkling that something like this was happening because we lost electricity and signal that night, and it didn’t come back till the next Sunday,” he recounted. Once the signal was back, the group had turned the TV on and realised the scale of the disaster that was unfolding. The source’s relatives in Nanu Oya reside on a main road that has been cut off due to access because of landslides that occurred.
Many residents in Colombo also claimed they did not receive the official SMS alert that the DMC claims to have sent through.
The Sunday Times put out a call for confirmation from people who had received SMS alerts about their area being at risk, and the earliest alert, according to the responses, came at 9:30 am on 27th November. Cyclone Ditwah made landfall in the early hours that day. The cyclone was named at around 6:00 am on 27th November.
Under the National Disaster Management Act, the National Emergency Operation Plan is automatically activated when a national disaster is declared. However, whether the Standard Operating Procedures set out under these frameworks were actually followed—and whether they are even adequate—remains an open question.
Silence in high places
In the aftermath of the disaster, Met Department Director General Mr. Athula Karunanayake has reportedly been barred from speaking to the media without prior clearance from the Ministry of Defence, under which the Meteorology Department operates. At his request, the Sunday Times sought an interview through Defense Secretary Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, but was redirected to Squadron Leader Thiranjaya Priyaruwan, who said the request must come directly from the Director General himself. Despite repeated attempts through multiple channels, official permission was not granted, leaving the department’s position on these allegations unanswered.
Foreign media reported that the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) first detected the formation of the depression on November 13. An alert warning of possible cyclogenesis was issued on November 20. From November 23 onwards, the IMD released three-hourly and six-hourly updates tracking the system’s development, which was expected to intensify around November 26. All this information was routinely shared with Sri Lankan authorities.
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