Flash floods displace thousands in war-torn area

Flash floods displace thousands in war-torn area

Photo: OCHA

COLOMBO, 20 March 2008 (IRIN) - More than 50,000 people have been hit by flooding in northwestern Mannar District in Sri Lanka since 12 March, the government said. The area has witnessed intense clashes between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the last six months, restricting access to relief agencies.

Flooding caused by torrential rains has affected 173,909 people in nine districts of the country, including 120,000 in the eastern Batticaloa District, and left five dead, the National Disaster Relief Services Centre (NDRSC) said on 19 March.

“Floods have caused immense damage to affected areas, interrupting all economic and social activities,” the NDRSC stated in a situation report. “It is also reported that there is tremendous damage to infrastructure facilities in the areas [of Mannar]. About 14,010 families or 54,323 people have been affected.”

The report also stated that 40 houses had been destroyed and 155 damaged in the eight districts. The NDRSC said the government had allocated three million rupees (US$27,000) as emergency funds for affected districts and Rs2 million ($18,000) for Mannar District.

Crops damaged

Initial assessment reports by the NDRSC said damage to crops could be high as the rains came just before the harvesting season.

“There are 12,000 acres of paddy land that were to be harvested when the floods hit,” A Nicholaspillai, the government agent for Mannar, told IRIN. “We still don’t have exact figures, but damage to the harvest is something we will have to deal with.”
Nicholaspillai also said seed would have to be provided to farmers for the upcoming season.

Officials of the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRC) said there were indications of damage to crops in at least one other southern district. “The initial reports we have indicate that there have been significant crop losses in the southern district of Badulla,” Merik Peiris, executive director, communications and humanitarian values at the SLRC, told IRIN.

Government officials in Mannar told IRIN they had began distributing relief items and were awaiting assessment reports to decide on additional assistance. “We started distributing meals almost as soon as the first displacements were reported over the weekend,” Nicholaspillai told IRIN. “We have made initial plans to continue the distribution for three days at least.”

Restricted access

Increasing clashes between government forces and the LTTE along the line of control in Mannar District and other security concerns had already restricted access to the district before the latest flooding.

“Since 4 February, access has been restricted to vehicles north of Madawachchiya checkpoint, creating additional challenges for civilian travel across Mannar District,” the Inter-Agency Standing Committee stated in a situation report released on 15 March.

However, Peiris said the SLRC did not foresee the security restrictions limiting the relief effort in Mannar. “We already have a network there and plan to work through government agencies.”

He added that while the immediate needs of the victims, such as cooked food and clothes, would be provided, SLRC would need additional assistance, such as non-food items, as the flood waters receded and the displaced began returning home.

“There will be lot of demand for dry rations and baby food after they return home,” he said. “We also will have to look at health concerns and loss of livelihoods.”

FLOOD SITUATION REPORT IN THE DRY ZONE OF SRI LANKA

According to the 12^th March announcement from the Disaster Management Centre (DMC), some areas in the Trincomalee and Anuradhapura Districts were inundated following torrential rain, but no flood victims had been reported so far. The Divaina local newspaper reported that the affected areas are Nelsanpura, Sumedhankarapura, Thulsipura, 3 mile post and Trincomalee, with approximately 1000 families being displaced in the Trincomalee district.

The Island Newspaper on 13th March reported that 20 large reserovoirs in the dry zone have had to open their sluice gates in order to release water. These reservoirs are situated in the Anuradhapura, Badulla, Kurunegala, Batticaloa, Monaragala, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee districts.

The following table shows the tank's in Anuradhapura that are close to or have reached their maximum water level:

Name of Tank	Maximum Level	Present Water Level
Rajanganaya	35.0	34.50
Kalaweva	424.0	424.16
Nachchaduwa	25.0	25.0

The DMC have warned of ‘imminent’ landslides in the districts of Badulla and Ratnapura, as stated in the Daily Mirror on 14^th March. A minor landslide has already taken place in the Badulla DS area.

Farmers organizations are predicting a massive problem for harvesting activities as much harvested paddy is being destroyed, and that which is growing is of immediate risk. Hundred’s of acres of paddy land is under water, with entire harvests wiped out.
These figures can be seen below:

Number of Acres	Affected District
1867 acres	Muttur
2 acres	Ralkuli
Over 400 acres	Moraweva
Over 3000 acres	Tissamaharama

Badulla District DMC reported the closing of the Ella- Wellawaya road due to a landslide, causing the death of 2 people, and damaging 178 houses.

TSUNAMI AFFECTED COMMUNITIES IN THE SOUTHERN COAST

TSUNAMI AFFECTED COMMUNITIES IN THE SOUTHERN COAST

KALAMETIYA GREEN VILLAGE

Since the DMIP are now responsible for managing the long term rehabilitation and recovery of tsunami affected communities, we are evaluating the progress, needs and problems from our resettlement villages. We went to Kalametiya, which is a well known successful model of a self sustaining and environmentally friendly community. Our observations were that although the majority had a good income generation, they were still dependent on the GMSL. We aim to increase their self motivation, capacity and sense of ownership and responsibility to manage their own lives. We held an effective participatory learning and action workshop to establish problems as well as looking towards solving them. 16 short term problems were found and many of the solutions were rooted in community contribution and effort.

HANGURANKETHA REHABILITATION PROGRAMME

HANGURANKETHA REHABILITATION PROGRAMME

Nearly 200 families have moved to their new site, but many have returned to their original lands, despite it being at risk. It seems evident that the new site is unsuitable and could be prone to landslides, yet the DS division are ignorant to this fact, stating the risk as commonplace to Nuwara Eliya. Due to this, the GMSL are undertaking a swift and effective lobbying and advocacy role, to re-assess the suitability of the site and challenge the DS with findings from the NBRO and DMC. They are still without any water and sanitation facilities but the GMSL are currently securing funding for this and the community is under negotiation with the host families to share water from a nearby lake.

LANDSLIDE AFFECTED COMMUNITIES IN NEWARA ELIYA

LANDSLIDE AFFECTED COMMUNITIES IN NEWARA ELIYA

WALAPANE REHABILITATION PROGRAMME

The people of Walapane who suffered from last years landslides, have mobilised themselves to improve their living conditions in the camp. As they await resettlement, they have begun to construct a study room, and are receiving a water supply as well as electricity. This was done under the guidance of the GMSL but was predominantly carried out by the community themselves, with material assistance from the DS. They have been lobbying and advocating for new land, especially since a small number of families were recently arrested for moving to land they had found themselves. 3 representatives from Walapane met with the Environmental Ministry to discuss whether they could release some of the 500 acres of land discovered that belongs to the wildlife department. This is still in discussion but the outcome looks extremely positive.

Walapane again vulnerable to landslides

One Year On...

Due to the land slides caused on the 12th of
January 2007, almost 3000 families have been
displaced and have been living in temporary
shelters facing severe hardships.
Their request was neither well built houses nor
big scale funding. It was only a land on which to
cultivate and to live without dependence. They
managed this request based on their own capacity
and initiative of building their own houses.
The government continuously stated that they
would provide suitable lands for the victims
to rebuild their houses and issued many statements
that new land had been allocated. Yet
the communities still waited, uninformed,
disempowered and disillusioned. When there
seemed to be no alternatives, families took it
upon themeselves to find a solution. 8 families
from the Walapane temporary shelters entered
the Keerti-Bandarapura environmental conservation
area on February 24, 2008 and were
subsequently arrested by the police. They were
taken to the Nuwara Eliya magistrate and will
appear in court on the 29th of February 2008.

According to details from the Walapane DS office,
313 families are still living in 12 temporary
shelters and many others are living in their relatives’
homes and other places.
Although the government has informed them
not to resettle in their original lands as they
are vulnerable to landslides, they haven’t taken
any action to provide lands from more suitable
areas.
The dry rations that were provided by the government
has stopped and steps have been taken
to regain this much needed relief.
Most of the affected people who were agriculturalists
have had to take labouring work in
urban areas, leaving their wives and children in
the camps.

Problems

Living in temporary shelters has caused physical
and mental problems, especially for the women
and children.
Lack of sanitation
The tents which were given very recently are
not suitable for the present climatic conditions.

At present 16 hectares were found by the DS
office and demarcating process has been slowly
going on.

Recommendations

The resettlement process should be accelerated.
Land selection should be done under the guidance
and supervision of the NBRO.
New livelihoods and existing livelihoods should
be linked with the resettlement process.
Community participation shoud be enhanced.