Rebuilding schools, repeating risks: Why Sri Lanka must act now on asbestos
In the weeks following Cyclone Ditwah, across affected parts of Sri Lanka, children returned to school grounds that looked very different from before. Roofs lay twisted on the ground, classrooms were reduced to rubble, and piles of broken building materials waited to be cleared away. For many communities, the focus has understandably been on rebuilding quickly, restoring normality, getting children back into classrooms, and repairing what the storm destroyed.
Yet hidden within this urgent recovery is a quiet but serious public health risk that we have seen before and should not repeat: asbestos.
A recent judgment by India’s National Green Tribunal (NGT) has brought renewed attention to this issue across the region. While the Tribunal did not impose an immediate ban on asbestos cement roofing in schools, it clearly reaffirmed a critical scientific fact, there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. It also acknowledged that asbestos fibres are released when roofing sheets weather, break, or are dismantled, and that exposure is not limited to factory workers alone.
This judgment is particularly relevant to Sri Lanka at a moment when damaged schools are being cleaned up and rebuilt under immense time and financial pressure.
Sri Lanka is not without policy guidance. In 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a decision to refrain from using asbestos roofing sheets in school buildings, especially in new constructions, and to adopt safer, environmentally friendly alternatives. This decision recognised what public health professionals have long warned: children are uniquely vulnerable to asbestos exposure, and schools should be places of safety, not silent risk.
However, a policy written on paper does not always translate into protection on the ground. Even before the cyclone, asbestos-containing cement roofing sheets could still be seen in newly constructed or renovated pre-schools and primary schools, particularly in rural areas. Cost concerns, limited awareness, weak enforcement mechanisms, and procurement practices often override health considerations. For parents and teachers, this is rarely a conscious choice; most are unaware that the familiar grey roofing sheets above their children’s heads contain a known carcinogen.
Cyclone Ditwah has magnified this risk. When asbestos cement sheets crack, collapse, or are broken during demolition, they release microscopic fibres into the air, fibres that cannot be seen, smelled, or felt, but can lodge deep in the lungs. In post-disaster clean-up operations, debris is often handled rapidly and informally, without protective equipment or guidance on hazardous materials. Informal workers, volunteers, school staff, nearby residents, and sometimes even children themselves may be exposed during debris removal, transport, or dumping.
The rebuilding phase presents a second and more enduring danger. Under pressure to restore schools quickly and within limited budgets, asbestos-containing roofing materials may once again be chosen. In doing so, a long-term health hazard is rebuilt into the very structures meant to protect and nurture young minds. This directly contradicts existing Cabinet decisions and ignores decades of global public health guidance that stresses prevention of early-life exposure as the most effective way to reduce asbestos-related disease.
Evidence from Sri Lanka itself shows that these concerns are not theoretical. In the article “Prevalence of Asbestos-Related Disease Among Workers in Sri Lanka,” radiological evidence of asbestos-related lung disease was documented among exposed workers in several parts of the country. Importantly, the findings also pointed to environmental and para-occupational exposure, including among people living under asbestos roofs. With limited diagnostic facilities, weak health surveillance, and widespread underreporting, Sri Lanka is likely seeing only a fraction of the true disease burden.
Children are not simply small adults. They breathe more air relative to their body weight, their lungs are still developing, and they have many decades ahead during which asbestos-related cancers such as mesothelioma may emerge. Schools are spaces of prolonged, daily exposure, making the continued presence of asbestos roofing especially troubling from both a health and ethical standpoint.
Post-disaster reconstruction offers Sri Lanka a rare opportunity. Rebuilding is not just about speed, it is about rebuilding better and safer. This moment calls for clear leadership and decisive action: strict enforcement of the existing prohibition on asbestos use in schools, clear guidance on safe handling and disposal of asbestos-containing debris, and reconstruction contracts that mandate asbestos-free materials.
Asbestos risk must also be integrated into disaster preparedness and recovery planning, rather than treated as an afterthought.
The Indian NGT judgment sends a strong signal to the region. The debate is no longer about whether asbestos is dangerous; the science has long settled that question. The real issue is how long governments can justify continued exposure, particularly among children, when safer alternatives exist. As Sri Lanka rebuilds its schools after Cyclone Ditwah, the country has a responsibility to ensure they are not only standing, but safe. Rebuilding faster should never come at the cost of rebuilding unsafe.
The writer is Director, Centre for Occupational Safety and Health (COSH), Visiting Lecturer, University of Moratuwa, and College of General Practitioners, Sri Lanka, Board Member, Workplace Health Without Borders (WHWB) International Branch, National Secretary, International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) and Secretary, Workplace Safety and Health Association (WSHA), Sri Lanka.
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