15/01 • SRI LANKA

This edition of Pray the News was written by Nagulan Nesiah, Senior Program Officer for disaster response and risk reduction at Episcopal Relief & Development. 

The most catastrophic storm was Cyclone Ditwah, that resulted in 643 deaths, 183 missing, over 700 landslides, power outages to 30% of the country, impacting a total of 1.46million people across all districts of the country.

Sri Lanka is particularly susceptible to climate hazards due to its location in the Indian Ocean at the convergence of major ocean currents from either the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Despite efforts to strengthen early warning mechanisms since the devastating 2004 tsunami, the systems and processes were insufficient to prevent devastating impacts.

Most vulnerable are the Malaiyaha households living in the long-neglected hilly tea plantation regions, where infrastructure is minimal due to the long-standing colonial-era agreements between the government and the tea companies whereby most social services are provided at the inclination of the tea companies outside of government oversight.

Road maintenance, housing and sanitation facilities, land rights, education opportunities are all inconsistent, substandard and at some instances, non-existent. As part experience had proven, disasters disproportionally impacts communities that were already facing pre-disaster socio-economic inequalities.

Civil Society organisations, including the church, have been strongly advocating for the rectification of these systemic injustices. While the government has designed strong and effective mechanisms for housing, livelihood and infrastructure recovery, it is critical that the most marginalised households are invited to have full access to these schemes.