• 13-member committee appointed to draft recommendations

The Government is moving to amend the Disaster Management Act No.13 of 2005 to strengthen coordination and provide greater legal authority to district and divisional officials responding to disasters, according to a senior public administration official.

Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils, and Local Government Additional Secretary Dr. Roshanie Dissanayake said a committee appointed by the National Council for Disaster Management, chaired by the President, was drafting recommendations to revise the law at present.

She revealed this during an event organised by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) to mark International Women’s Day, held under the theme ‘Women, Climate Change, and Disasters: A Rights-Based Response with Lessons Learnt from Cyclone Ditwah’. 

Dr. Dissanayake said that the committee, chaired by her and comprising 13 members – more than half of them women, in response to concerns that women’s voices are often unheard in disaster-related policy and decision-making – had already prepared an initial framework for discussion and conducted around 20 consultations on the proposed amendments. 

“The Disaster Management Act needs to include several mechanisms that are currently missing. Our task is to provide recommendations to the National Council for Disaster Management on how the law should be amended,” she said. 

Dr. Dissanayake noted that disaster-related directives were issued at present by as many as 19 different institutions, creating confusion for officials responsible for implementation. 

A study conducted by the committee found that by 26 February alone, 77 separate instructions had been issued relating to the Cyclone Ditwah disaster response. 

“All these instructions eventually reach the district secretary or divisional secretary, creating a bottleneck,” she said. 

To address this issue, the committee has recommended establishing a National Disaster Management Coordination Committee through the amended law to streamline institutional decision-making. 

Under the proposal, all relevant agencies would be required to coordinate their actions through this mechanism during disaster situations. 

Dr. Dissanayake also pointed out that one of the key gaps in the existing law was the limited authority given to district and divisional administrative structures during emergencies. 

Under the current legal framework, disaster management falls under the Ministry of Defence, meaning that field-level officials often have to wait for instructions from central authorities before taking action. 

However, she noted that disasters frequently disrupted communication and transportation networks, making such centralised control impractical.

Referring to Cyclone Ditwah, Dr. Dissanayake stated that many areas had been completely cut off for several days, severely hampering coordination efforts.

The proposed amendments are expected to introduce mechanisms allowing district secretaries, divisional secretaries, field officers, health officials, and community organisations to coordinate and take decisions collectively at the local level. 

“Just like when an election is declared and officials automatically receive the authority to act, disaster management also requires a similar mechanism where officers can respond immediately without waiting for instructions,” she said.

The committee had also identified major coordination challenges within the current disaster response system, she added. 

Therefore, the amendments will also consider the role of community organisations and seek to provide them with greater legal recognition within disaster management structures. 

Amending the current Disaster Management Act has been under discussion since 2016, following recommendations from professionals to update the 2005 legal framework to address the increasing frequency of natural and human-induced disasters. 

In 2020, proposals were made to strengthen post-disaster response and address emerging challenges, including establishing legal frameworks to protect children during disasters, improving coordination among agencies, and preventing resettlement in high-risk zones. 

After the National People’s Power Government assumed office, the National Council for Disaster Management, chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, met on 7 August 2025 after a lapse of seven years and instructed officials to update the act to meet current needs.

Following Cyclone Ditwah, discussions were also initiated on including broader provisions in the law to address diverse types of disasters, rather than introducing separate legislation for individual events.