Managing floods

Floods are natural events caused by the interplay of changes in climate, rivers and rampant urbanisation. Among all natural disasters, flooding is the most frequent. The number of reported flood events has been increasing significantly, particularly in the last 20 years. Worldwide, there has been rapid growth in the number of people killed or seriously affected by floods. The United Nations estimates floods affect an estimated 520 million people across the world yearly, resulting in up to 25,000 deaths in a single year.

For Sri Lanka floods are part of an annual weather cycle that is gamely faced by the people. During severe floods, as was seen in May 2016 or in the case of more moderate disasters, if such a thing can be said to exist, the public enthusiastically bands together to collect aid and volunteer in relief efforts. The Government machinery, fairly well-oiled after many years of trial and error, springs into action, aided by the military and other welfare organisations. But the reality is that floods are becoming worse for three major reasons - climate change and linked to that rampant urbanisation and deforestation.

While climate change requires large-scale, cross-governmental and international effort, the other two are directly the responsibility of the Sri Lankan Government and its citizens. Officially only 20% or less of the country is urbanised but there are significant patches of urbanisation happening in as much as 50% of the country. Most of it is completely unplanned and unorganised. 

Just a few weeks ago a building collapse in central Colombo set off a discourse on illegal construction, which is aided by corrupt municipalities and local authorities. This is at the core of mismanaged and often terrible urbanisation. In Sri Lanka we are very quick to blame the central government for its excesses but we rarely focus attention on the governance that is closest to the public - local bodies. This is often worsened by policymakers who set in place entities like the Megapolis Ministry, which in reality has very little or no jurisdiction in areas like Ratnapura that are the worst-affected by the floods. Yet the bulk of resources are with similar ministries that have very little capacity to carry them out. 

Moreover, urbanisation has to be done in very close consultation with the public it serves. People, especially in poorer communities, are more affected by steps taken by central governments to destroy illegal construction because it could be someone’s home, indeed their entire financial security that is being destroyed. This would make sustainable development harder, not easier, as knee-jerk policymakers might imagine. 

An incompetent, corruption-riddled Government cannot tell its periphery officials to do a better job but that is precisely what is required for Sri Lanka to have effective flood mitigation policies.