‘Most earth-slips and landslides man-made disasters’

By Saman Indrajith

Most of the earth slips and landslides that are reported are the result of bad practices in construction, Dr. Gamini Jayatissa, Director of Landslide Research Division of the National Building Research Organization (NBRO), said yesterday.

“Most of these incidents were not caused by natural reasons. When people build houses on hilly areas, they flatten the ground. When you do this in a slope that has an angle, you are setting yourself up for a future landslide,” he said.

Dr. Jayatissa indicated that there are ways of building houses on slopes in a safe manner. In 2011, laws were passed making NBRO recommendations necessary, prior to making any constructions in mountainous areas. NBRO offices have been established in 10 districts and they provide necessary advice.

“However, not all construction is made following our advice. This is especially seen in the construction of rural housing. We can see this in areas that are controlled by pradeshiya sabhas. You can see that most landslides are reported in those areas,” he said.

Dr. Jayatissa went on to say that they have issued landslide warnings for eight districts and that they are constantly monitoring the situation.

“We have to keep an eye out. There has been a lot of rain and the soil is saturated. Further rain, even small rains, can lead to serious landslides. There is a big threat of earth slips. Most houses in the hills, with unstable slopes behind them, are in danger,” he said.

Assistant Director of Media and Public Relation of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) Janaka Handunpathiraja also said that earth slips and falling trees are the main reasons for property damage.

“People need to be more vigilant. If there is an unstable slope behind your house or if you feel there is a tree that can topple onto your house, you must take the necessary actions,” he said.

Eng. S.P.C. Sugeeshwara Director of Irrigation – Hydrology & Disaster Management, indicated that water levels of Laxapana and Castlereigh reservoirs were extremely low prior to the recent activation of the north-western monsoon. Both these reservoirs were over 70 percent full by Wednesday, he added.

“Samanalawewa was empty. But water levels are now at about 40 percent. These are good developments for electricity generation. But by October last year, we had more water in all three above-mentioned tanks. On the other hand, the Mahaweli scheme was not affected by the monsoons,” he said.