• NBRO steps up landslide prevention with Red-Yellow Hazard Zone mapping
• Focus on overall disaster impact zoning and groundwater-surface water drainage mgt./maintenance

The Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval to prepare and implement a National Building Code, following a proposal submitted by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Defence.

The project, to be implemented by the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO), aims to establish a comprehensive set of standards governing the design, construction, maintenance, and alteration of buildings to ensure public safety, health, and welfare, while minimising disaster risks.

Building codes typically set out minimum legal and technical requirements for the construction sector, covering areas such as the structural integrity, fire safety, electrical and plumbing systems, energy efficiency, and the disaster response capacity.

At present, Sri Lanka does not have a national building code in force, which has led to recurring issues related to structural safety, construction quality, and regulatory oversight. Recognising this gap, Cabinet approval was first given on 30 April 2019 to begin work on developing and establishing a National Building Code.

The World Bank Group has since provided technical assistance to the relevant stakeholders in formulating the concept, while the development of climate-resilient building codes has also been identified as a national priority. It was listed among the four key recommendations of the Climate Public Investment Management Assessment conducted by the International Monetary Fund in Sri Lanka.

The newly approved project is expected to introduce climate-resilient national building standards to strengthen safety and quality in the country’s construction sector.

Meanwhile, noting that it has been identified that Sri Lanka’s mountainous area, which constitutes 30% of the total land area of the country, is at risk of landslides and is spread over 14 districts, the Cabinet has taken a decision to determine the total area that may be affected by landslide disasters using the Red and Yellow Zone Determination Methodology.

The Cabinet decision in this regard read: “As a basic method for the early identification of landslide-prone mountain slopes and their distribution, landslide hazard zone maps are prepared and used by the NBRO. Accordingly, landslide hazard zone maps have been prepared to cover most of the landslide-prone areas in Sri Lanka by 2023. Only areas with signs of landslide initiation are shown in such maps. However, in landslide risk management, it is essential to identify the entire area, including landslide initiation zones, the path that the debris flows, and debris deposit zones. By identifying this condition, the NBRO has proposed a project to determine overall landslide disaster impact zones (the total impact zone) using the said Methodology.” Accordingly, the Cabinet has approved the proposal presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his capacity as the Minister of Defence.

Moreover, the Cabinet noted that the NBRO has implemented a programme to stabilise landslide-vulnerable slopes to minimise landslide risk conditions in identified areas, and that accordingly, approximately 250 stabilisation projects have been implemented in landslide-prone areas during the last 10 years. While approximately Rs. 10 billion was incurred for that purpose, the long-term stability of a stabilised landslide area depends on the measures taken to manage groundwater and surface water drainage patterns.

The Cabinet, in a statement, said: “There is a risk of these stabilised areas turning back into non-stabilised areas without the management and maintenance of groundwater and surface water drainage patterns. Therefore, the proper maintenance of these stabilised areas is essential to prevent them from becoming unstable. For this reason, although the NBRO has issued a series of guidelines to the relevant stakeholder institutions, there is a risk of these stabilised areas becoming unstable due to a lack of proper maintenance.”

The recommendations of the Department of National Planning have been received for a project called "Restore and Maintain Stabilised Landslide Areas" planned by the NBRO in order to prevent the emergence of such risks.