News
Pera campus counts heavy losses from deluge as partial academic activities resume tomorrow
View(s):- The university did not receive any official warning of a possible flood, says Vice Chancellor
- 10 buildings severely damaged; initial direct damage cost estimated at Rs. 3 billion; total recovery expected to be several billion more
By Sandun Jayawardana and Sajeniya Sathanandan
Two weeks after Cyclone Ditwah, the University of Peradeniya is still counting the cost of the damage it suffered from the unprecedented disaster.
Water from the overflowing Mahaweli River started coming in on the night of November 27 and large parts of the campus were inundated by the morning of November 28. The flooding caused severe damage to the Faculties of Management, Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, and Agriculture. In addition, several hostels, including ‘Sarasavi Medura,’ key academic and administrative units, sports facilities, the university’s daycare centre, roads, utilities and other critical infrastructure were also damaged. Floodwaters in some areas reached nearly 16 feet.
“We have never experienced this sort of flood (at Peradeniya University) in our lifetime,” Prof. Terrence Madhujith, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, told the Sunday Times. He added that the university did not receive any official warning of a possible flood other than what was in the media.
In all, 10 buildings in the university were severely affected by floods. “We are still in the process of calculating the loss, so we cannot give an exact figure, but the initial estimate is that direct damage alone may go up to about Rs. 3 billion,” said Prof. Madhujith. Total recovery and reconstruction costs are likely to add several billion more to this figure.
Faculties of Management, Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, and Agriculture were among the faculties that were damaged
Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, in her capacity as Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, visited the university along with Education Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa on December 7 to meet with university authorities and assess the damage.
Academic activities which were initially to resume on December 8, will now begin tomorrow, December 15. “However, we will not be fully functional even on the 15th, especially some of the more heavily damaged faculties. We will not be able to open the Faculties of Management and Veterinary Sciences for academic activities this year. Some of the faculties will start on December 29 while others will start in January,” Prof. Madhujith revealed.
Meanwhile, a geo-technical expert committee comprising engineers and geologists was appointed to assess the safety of the buildings. The committee has given a report with some recommendations on how to protect the buildings. The VC said these recommendations are now being studied.
While the long-term plan would be to relocate hostels and buildings in vulnerable areas, the university has also decided to establish an alarm system for the campus. A decision has also been taken to install river gauges to monitor water levels.
Work on cleaning the university began in earnest soon after floodwaters receded. Academic and non-academic staff along with students who have volunteered to stay behind, are now helping with the cleanup efforts. They are also being assisted by student volunteers from other universities.
Dean of the Faculty of Management Prof. Ravi Kuruppuge said damage to the faculty is estimated at about Rs. 265 million. The estimate covers equipment, furniture and other operational items, but excludes the building and land matters. 
The recovery plan focuses on obtaining sponsorships and donations. The faculty has identified around 30 separate projects for re-establishment. The cost for these individual projects ranges between Rs.1 million and Rs. 10 million each, though large projects like repairing the computer lab may cost more than Rs. 10 million. To speed up the recovery process and avoid lengthy government procurement plans, interested contributors such as private companies, NGOs, or government institutes can take on a specific project. The faculty will facilitate the project, but the external parties will handle the financial and other associated details themselves, the Dean explained.
Prof. Barana Jayawardana, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture stated that a rough estimation of damage to the faculty except buildings comes to about Rs. 260 million, with the damage to buildings bringing the estimate closer to Rs. 500 million.
Three of the faculty’s eight departments were severely damaged, Prof. Jayawardana said. They include the Department of Animal Science, the Department of Soil Science, and the Department of Agriculture Engineering.
Three laboratories of the Animal Science Department, namely the Dai
ry Product Technology Laboratory, the Meat Product Technology Laboratory and the Aquaculture Laboratory, were destroyed. Two laboratories at the Department of Soil Science also suffered damage. Meanwhile, the experimental station at the Meewathura farm belonging to the Department of Agriculture Engineering was completely destroyed.
One Land Rover, two vans, and two tractors at the faculty were also damaged by flood waters.
Various costly items such as refrigerators, freezers (including double door ones), incubators, different types of microscopes, plant tissue equipment, water distillery units, transformers, glassware, chemicals, and specific machinery such as meat processing equipment, dairy processing equipment, and ice cream making machines were among those that were severely damaged or destroyed.
The faculty is currently working with its alumni to evaluate whether any of the damaged equipment can be repaired, Prof. Jayawardana said.
A lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science noted that the severely damaged Department of Farm Animal Production and Health is responsible for teaching veterinary students during all five years of their curriculum.
The Farm Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where veterinary students learn the ropes of surgery, medicine, animal breeding and biotechnology suffered significant damage as it is located close to the Mahaweli River.
| A helping hand to rise again The University of Peradeniya has established a ‘Flood Relief Fund,’ enabling well-wishers, both home and abroad to lend monetary assistance toward rebuilding the university. More information regarding the fund and how donors can contribute are available on the university’s website. Students to the forefront As the Peradeniya University engages in the uphill task of recovering from the unprecedented natural disaster, student activists have mobilised students to support cleanup and recovery efforts. At the Faculty of Management, more than 100 students are helping to salvage and clean up equipment worth millions of rupees that were damaged. “As students of the faculty, we have a duty to help the cleanup process. Led by the faculty’s dean, academic and non-academic staff as well as the student community have all come together for this effort. Most of the cleanup process is now complete,” said Sasindu Lakshan, President of the Management Faculty’s Students’ Union. Cleaning the university has been a collective effort carried out with the support of everyone, said Adisha Nidukan, President of the Peradeniya University’s Student Union. Over 500 students have been mobilised with the support of the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF). He noted that new equipment worth millions of rupees will be needed for academic activities in some faculties to resume at least by January. “These are just the essential equipment needed so that lectures can resume urgently. We hope the government or other organisations will assist the university to procure the equipment so as to facilitate the immediate priority of resuming academic activities.” No student lives lost on campus, but personal grief and losses for some Peradeniya is well-known as a residential university and about 10, 000 of its 16, 000 students were on campus when the flooding occurred. Though the disaster was unprecedented, thankfully, no lives were lost at the university. Some students have however suffered immense personal losses. The homes of four students have been completely destroyed while 13 others have had their homes partially damaged. These numbers might go up as more information becomes available, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Terrence Madhujith stated. One student from the Engineering Faculty lost his entire family of five in Badulla. He survived because he was on campus. The total number of students affected by the disaster in some way is about 600. About 30 staff members have also been affected, but these numbers too might go up as the university is still in the process of gathering information, he said. A final year student who was at the ‘Sarasavi Medura,’ girls’ hostel which was inundated, said she had gone home before the disaster and only returned to campus afterward. “My room was on the ground floor, so it was completely flooded. All of my belongings including clothes, books, notes and baggage have been damaged.” She described feeling immense pressure following the loss of her final year notes, stating she now has no study materials for her upcoming final year exams.
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