Parliament’s Ditwah probe turns to local councils after months-long silence on coordination failures

Tuesday, 22 September 2026 06:28 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Nearly a year after Cyclone Ditwah tore through the Kandy and Matale districts, Parliament’s Select Committee probing the disaster response is only now getting around to asking the officials closest to the ground what went wrong.

According to a Parliament Secretariat release, the Committee has decided to summon representatives of Pradeshiya Sabhas and Municipal Councils to explain how local authorities coordinated, or failed to coordinate, during the disaster, after members flagged a lack of clarity on how these bodies were folded into official communication channels at the time.

The move follows a Committee meeting in Parliament chaired by Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, where members questioned officials from the National Council for Disaster Management and the District Secretaries of Kandy and Matale on the disaster management process during the heavy rainfall, landslides and flooding that struck the two districts from 23 to 27 November 2025.

The Committee’s attention has settled on early warning systems, inter-institutional communication and emergency response procedures, areas that came under sustained criticism in the aftermath of Ditwah. Members also discussed the need for formal written emergency protocols and regular disaster preparedness drills, an acknowledgement that no such standard procedures were in place when the cyclone hit.

Deputy Ministers Major General (Retired) Aruna Jayasekara and Anton Jayakody, along with Members of Parliament Anuradha Jayaratne, Rohini Kumari Wijerathne, Kanthasamy Prabu, Ruwan Mapalagama and Dr. Pathmanathan Sathiyalingam, also participated in the meeting.