Sri Lanka struggles to cope with flooding

Recent heavy rains across Sri Lanka have caused flooding and landslides that have left scores of people dead and tens of thousands of people homeless. While government Ministers in charge of Disaster Management were quick to go to the flood hit areas, there is growing concern about the government’s ability to cope with the crisis. Estimates say more than a million people have been affected by the flooding, with the worst affected areas in the East of the country – an area that had already been devastated by long years of war and by the Tsunami of 2004.

Although the death toll so far is a only a fraction of that, which the Tsunami caused, the destruction of agricultural lands, infrastructure damage and loss of livelihoods is much higher.

The government has dealt with the immediate aftermath of the disaster by deploying security forces personnel who have been supported by local level government structures in place working closely with local and international NGOs and communities living in adjacent villages and towns.

Director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, Jehan Perera says such cooperation needs to be strengthened – while the government in recent years has been increasingly reluctant to engage with civil society and NGO’s. "The government has adopted a restrictive policy," toward NGOs and international organizations - a policy for which NGOs and international donors, "have also been adopting a little bit of a 'hands-off' attitude." Besides epidemics, another major concern is the possibility of a rice shortage, which could result from the destruction of vast extents of paddy land and irrigation systems, upon which many farmers are dependent for cultivation.

Listen to Chris Altieri's report: