The cost of relocating vulnerable communities to safe locations, compensating them during disasters under immediate relief, and assessment and disbursement of funds for loss of life and damages to property increases annually.
Given the challenging economic climate in Sri Lanka, allocating budgets for disaster management and relief is becoming increasingly difficult for the Government. Therefore, adopting disaster risk reduction measures in anticipation of natural hazards in the long term will allow the Government to utilise its funds for other essentials.
For instance, a year after the tragic landslide that occurred in Aranayaka in 2016, the Government estimated that families would be disbursed Rs. 1.2 million each for the construction of a house and paid Rs. 55,000 as compensation for each death reported.
Since the Government was unable to bear the entire cost, the private sector launched fundraisers to assist with rebuilding the village and settlements for 571 families. With 200 lives lost due to the landslide, compensation amounted to Rs. 110 million.
Impending disaster risks
Earlier last week, the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) announced that one-fifth of the country’s landmass was prone to landslides. Districts spanning a land area of 13,000 square kilometres – namely Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Matale, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, and Hambantota – have been marked as landslide-prone areas.
With the monsoon rains bringing downpours in quick succession, the magnitude of landslides will only increase. Mitigation measures are becoming the need of the hour as the frequency of natural disasters in the region only continues to increase.
In addition to the unforgiving weather, human-led activities such as unplanned land use practices, intensive cultivation, non-engineered constructions, and deforestation are further contributing towards landslides and earth slips.
Ongoing mitigation projects
However, the Government, with the financial assistance of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), is currently overseeing a project to implement physical mitigation measures based on investigation/assessment and improvement of planning, regulation, and instruments associated with landslide management.
The estimated cost of the landslide mitigation project is $ 101.3 million. From this, the AIIB in mid-2019 granted to the Government a sovereign-backed loan of $ 80 million with a loan term of 30 years, including a grace period of six years. The balance amount of $ 21.3 million had been sourced locally by the Government.
Known as the Reduction of Landslide Vulnerability by Mitigation Measures Project (RLVMMP), the first phase of the project commenced in late 2019 and by September 2023, critically-affected sites in 27 locations sustained recurring landslides. Thus far, studies conducted by the NBRO have identified 147 sites that require landslide mitigation across the country.
Elaborating on the project, RLVMMP Project Director R.M.S. Bandara told The Sunday Morning: “The mitigation measures we have applied over the last four years to areas prone to and recognised for recurrent landslides have reduced disaster risks. This has enabled the communities living in such areas to continue to reside in these same areas without facing the added vulnerability of undergoing natural disasters.”
Mitigation work for sites prioritised by the Road Development Authority (RDA) had been included in the first phase. Additionally, the RLVMMP has given high priority to implementing landslide mitigation measures in lands where public infrastructure is located.
In the long term, mitigation of landslides reduces national expenditure on repair and reconstruction of damaged buildings and infrastructure facilities, resettlement, and disaster relief services and emergency operation services.
Phase two of the RLVMMP, including 120 sites requiring protection work identified by the NBRO, RDA, and Sri Lanka Railways, will commence shortly after the inter-monsoon season ends.
“As we embark on the second phase of the project, mitigation measures will be implemented for 10 sites prioritised by the RDA along the Kandy-Mahiyangana route and 20 sites identified along the railway line from Rambukkana to Badulla. Once these mitigation measures are in place by the end of next year, the transport network will no longer face road closures and disruptions to train services on the main line due to landslides,” the RLVMMP Project Director noted.
Once the project reaches completion, the infrastructure will be secured and sustained by stabilising the slopes in high-risk areas, especially in the Badulla, Kandy, Matale, Kegalle, Ratnapura, Nuwara Eliya, Kalutara, Colombo, Galle, Matara, Hambantota, Gampaha, and Kurunegala Districts.
