Disasters and evolution of CBDRM in Sri Lanka.

DIPECHO 8 – Planning , 22.04.2015, Amaya Lake, Dambulla

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is extremely vulnerable to hydro-meteorological hazards such as floods, cyclone, droughts, and derivative disasters such as forest fires and landslides.

This vulnerability is compounded by socio-economic conditions such as population growth, environmental degradation, investments in infrastructure in hazard prone areas and extreme weather events caused by the effects of climate change.

The tank and village culture of Sri Lanka which embraced an ecosystem based approach was well established in the country prior to the colonial period.

Cooping with climate

System was able to coop with both the conditions!

100 mm rain in 1 days (hydrological importance!)

&

10 mm/day for 10 days (agronomical importance!)

Source: Handawela, J.

DRR in Sri Lanka Since independence; GOSL established systems to

provide welfare assistance to affected people. With the declaration of the IDNDR in 1990 by the

UN, a new trend in DM started in mid 90s in Sri Lanka, including formalised provision of relief and shelter

assistance through Ministry of Social Services, and district and divisional administrations.

Initiatives have taken place such as, implementing projects attempting to incorporate

DRR into urban planning; developing guidelines for urban planning,

Land use zoning and construction in hazard prone areas; DM training and integration of DRR into school and university

curricula; Developing plans for preparedness and response for disasters

at district and divisional levels.

Tsunami 2004 and DM Act With the tsunami of 2004, the government and

the society had to take the challenge of assisting the victims.

Enactment of the Act; Sri Lanka Disaster Management Act No.13 of 2005 provides for the coordination at the highest executive level

Addresses Disaster Management (DM) holistically, leading to a policy shift from response based mechanisms to a proactive approach

Act contd..

Establishment of the institutional framework for disaster management including The National Council for Disaster Management

(NCDM), Disaster Management Centre (DMC) and

elaborates powers and functions of the institution.

The Act also recognizes the cross-cutting nature of disaster management.

Act empowers HE the President to declare state of disaster.

Implementation of the ACT

In Nov2005; Establishment of a separate ministry of Disaster Management (DMC within its preview)

In 2006; Road map for DRM – Towards a safer in Sri Lanka was developed 2006-2016

Road Map for Disaster Management2005-2015

Developed under 7 thematic areas Institutional and legal framework Early warning Hazard, vulnerability and risk

assessment Prevention and Mitigation Awareness and Training Preparedness Planning Community Based Disaster Management

Road Map for Disaster Management2005-2015

Developed under 7 thematic areas Institutional and legal framework Early warning Hazard, vulnerability and risk

assessment Prevention and Mitigation Awareness and Training Preparedness Planning Community Based Disaster Management

Damages and Losses

2010 in 5 Districts

Damage FLOODS 2011

Relief provided (LKR)

2014

In Summary

Climate change in Sri Lanka

Slow & continuous rise of ambient temperature (0.01 – 0.03 0C/year)

Frequent occurrence of extreme weather events Droughts & floods High intensity rains Tornado type winds Intense lightning strikes

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 201029.0

29.5

30.0

30.5

31.0

31.5

32.0

32.5

33.0

33.5

34.0

Annual Average MaxT Linear (Annual Average MaxT)

Year

Max

imu

n T

emp

erat

ure

oC

MaxT = 0.027*Yr - 21.17 (p=0.000, R2=0.422)

Annual Average Maximum Temperature (Anuradhapura)

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 201021.5

22

22.5

23

23.5

24

24.5

25

Annual Average MinT Linear (Annual Average MinT)

Year

Min

imu

m T

emp

erat

ure

oC

MinT = 0.0241*Yr - 24.276 (p=0.000, R2=0.64)

Annual Average Minimum Temperature (Anuradhapura)

  TrendR2

P-Value

Dry zone

Anuradhapura

-0.233 0.41 0.00

Maha-Illuppallama

-0.099 0.09 0.027

Batticaloa -0.249 0.55 0.00

Hambantota -0.255 0.54 0.00

Mannar -0.208 0.21 0.004

• Decreasing trend almost everywhere• Significant in all cases

No of COLD DAYS and WARM DAYS

  TrendR2

P-Value

Dry zoneAnuradhapura

0.395 0.27 0.00

Maha-Illuppallama

0.025 0.00 0.774

Batticaloa 0.548 0.53 0.00

Hambantota 0.547 0.56 0.00

Mannar 0.336 0.12 0.027

• Increasing trend almost everywhere• Significant in most cases

Dry zone TrendR2

P-Value

Anuradhapura -0.295 0.47 0.00

Maha-illuppallama

-0.224 0.26 0.00

Batticaloa -0.062 0.01 0.253

Hambantota -0.112 0.13 0.008

Mannar -0.159 0.26 0.001

No of COLD NIGHTS vs WARM NIGHTS

• Decreasing trend almost everywhere• Significant in all cases

• Increasing trend almost everywhere• Significant in most cases

  TrendR2

P-Value

Dry zone

Anuradhapura 0.63 0.55 0.00

Mah-Illuppallama

0.187 0.13 0.009

Batticaloa 0.15 0.10 0.032

Hambantota 0.247 0.17 0.003

Mannar 0.523 0.48 0.00

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

2000

2200

Annual Rainfall (Anuradhapura)

Annual RF

Year

An

nu

al R

ain

fall

(m

m)

Does not show a significant trend (p=0.538)

More droughts !! More floods !!

Increase of average annual temperature of Sri Lanka in the 21st century under B2 scenario of IPCC SRES

ANNUAL TEMP

Change of annual rainfall of Sri Lanka in the 21st century under B2 scenario of IPCC

SRES

Change in Rainfall

Punyawardena et al, 2013

Climate Vulnerability

High temperature stress

Out of 285,000 flowering plants Only about 0.4% belongs to C4 plants

Optimum temperature range for photosynthesis

C3 plants → 15 - 30 0C

C4 plants → 20 - 35 0C

We are operating at the upper margin of the optimum range

Dry zone → 29 0C Intermediate zone → 27 - 28 0C Wet zone → 26 0C

Further increase of ambient temperature due to CC

• may exceed the threshold range of optimum temperature for plant growth

Th

ese

are

on

ly

avera

ges

!!!

High intense rains

> 25 mm/hr - Erosive Soil erosion Siltation▪ Reduced capacity of downstream tanks

High Temperature regime

High Evaporation losses

Local Communities - DRM

Local communities – default first responders though they cannot bear the full responsibility to manage major disasters.

Promoting disaster risk reduction and building resilience must be initiated at the community level, especially if it is to have a long-term and sustained impact

Making communities and SHs own and share the out comes of the resilient building initiatives is highly important

But the currant practice on DRM is more top to bottom and logistic centric with lack of community participation that results into failures in meeting the appropriate and vital humanitarian needs

CBDRM - Participation and Inclusion

Resilient communities are inclusive in nature.

Evaluation of CBDRM

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