Features

Rainwater harvesting is an essential step to stave off impending disaster

Published

3 years ago

2024/03/17

by ACB Pethiyagoda

Much is being spoken and written about the scarcity of drinking water and water for other purposes as well as it is a global problem caused by rapid population increases. It is made worse by the resulting needs of the people in the production of industrial and agricultural goods which in turn require water for production. This is the second most pressing problem the world is faced with the rising population being the first.

The average person does not give sufficient, or worse still, any thought to the need for conservation of water in the home, in agriculture, in industry or in its other uses. Conservationists say that a dangerous situation is looming ahead of us, individuals, nations and the world itself as the demand is increasing at an alarming rate while water supplies remain near constant. Consider for instance the following recent findings of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPF).

By 2050 the world’s population will increase to 9.3 billion from the present 6.1 billion. The increase will be mainly in developing countries where water for all purposes is already in short supply.

To feed the world’s population about 36% of the available fresh water is presently used for food production. By 2025 this could increase to 70% to meet the demands of the increased population.

In 2000, as many as 508 million people lived in 31 water stressed countries and in 2025 there will be three billion people in 48 such countries.

The average person is estimated to require 50 litres of water a day for drinking, washing and cooking.

According to the Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum Sri Lanka’s present domestic supply of water was secured by piped water serving the majority of te people, tube well, protected dug wells and served by other means.

The Forum in an article some months ago in “The Island” captioned “Domestic Rainwater Harvesting: An Option to Solve Water Scarcity Problem” states that between 1996 and 2000 the country needed to invest Rs. 8,000 million a year to provide safe drinking water throughout the country by 2010. However, investment fell short by more than 50% each year and one never knows when this need will be satisfied. That being the situation it is up to every right thinking person to conserve water before we find ourselves in a situation from which we cannot escape.

Such conservation is an unquantifiable contribution but it certainly is the right attitude and in the right direction. It will create the necessary awareness by users of water, for whatever purpose, to the danger we are faced with and concerned people need to take steps necessary to mitigate the circumstances.

As far as domestic use of water is concerned one option available is to supplement water from normal sources at household and macro levels by rainwater harvesting as a stand by resource.

Rainwater harvesting is the collection and storage of water that runs off man made catchment areas such as roofs of dwellings or other buildings through gutters into brick and cement or ferrocement tanks built above or underground.

Sri Lanka’s mean annual rainfall is around 2,000 mm with some parts of the country receiving only about 500 mm and when monsoons fail severe droughts are experienced such as that in the Hambantota District recently. In times such as those people need not have had to walk miles in search of drinking water as often as they did if rainwater had been collected in homes and by communities. Roof material of buildings and gutters used for rainwater collection should be hard such as G1 sheets, tiles or asbestos as these could be cleaned periodically. Overhanging branches and trees must be removed to ensure the collection tanks are sealed securely to prevent mosquitoes and other pests from breeding and growth of algae.

In order to encourage rain water storage systems plans for new houses and housing schemes should receive the attention of planners, builders, engineers and architects.

In late 2002 and early 2003 Agromart Foundation’s Production society members in Hambantota, Monaragala and Ampara District built in their homesteads 2,888 rain water storage tanks. Each of these have a capacity of 5000 litres and cost around Rs. 15,000/= each. A single mould costing approximately Rs. 7000/= was used to turn out several tanks. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) bore 75% of the cost while Agromarts members met the balance. At times of low rainfall owners of these tanks found all the drinking water they needed without even stepping out of their compounds so different from the ordeal they went through in the past.

With regard to water conservation in agriculture the main principals of rain water management is to slow down the flow and allow water to seep into the ground. To achieve this stone bunds, drains and trenches on the contour need to be provided. For maximum conservation pits measuring about a foot deep and two feet long should be dug at short intervals at the bottom of the contour drains. In steep land spacing between drains and or bunds must be close and wider in less steep land. These bunds and drains also serve another useful purpose, which is by preventing soil erosion.

Soils must be rich in leaf mould and mulch to absorb and retain water particularly in dry weather and prevent its exposure to the sun. In dry weather, if watering of crops is possible, a thorough drenching every few days is more useful than light watering daily. Watering in the late afternoons is advised to prevent excessive evaporation, during the day.

Waste water from kitchens can be used safely in home gardens where, preferable, the application is direct to the soil avoiding the crop foliage.

Perennial crops such as young coconut and fruit trees benefit greatly in times of drought when earthen pots buried up to their mouths and at a distance of about five feet from their trunks are filled with water as and when required.

Drip irrigation systems, though installation is expensive, are very efficient in conservation of water while at the same time giving excellent returns on investment as water is made available in measured quantities as and when needed by the crop.

Conservation of moisture and build up of soil fertility at macro level can be achieved with agro forestry. This is a system in which trees, preferably leguminous varieties, are planted as a mix with crops. By this system soil is protected from damage resulting from the beating action of heavy rain and scorching by the sun; Nitrogen is added to soils from decaying leaf and small branches from toppings. The force of winds and fast flowing rain water are minimized thus preventing physical damage to crops and minimising soil erosion; the force of dry winds are broken and drying up of soils and crops is minimized.

Fodder, fuel wood, timber, food, and medicinal items are provided by some trees grown with crops. Degraded and marginal lands can be brought back to their earlier productive condition.

An example of an efficient system of agro forestry is seen in Sri Lanka’s tea plantations where Grevillea, Dadap, Gliracidea and Accacia hedges planted from early times act as shade, windbreaks and sources of green manure.

Conservation of rainwater has been practiced in Sri Lanka from ancient times with our Kings constructing those near miracles, the irrigation tanks. King Kasyappa in the fifth century had fountains and swimming pools in his rock fortress. Ancients Rome had an intricate system of harvesting rain water for domestic use. In Australia’s semi desert regions many thousands of homesteads, cattle and sheep farms depend on harvested rain water. Community rain water tanks are common in many parts of Africa.

What we need in Sri Lanka today is to recreate an awareness for the need to conserve water and get about doing it at all levels and spheres because water is precious and has no known substitute.

Rainwater harvesting the best answer to Jaffna’s water woes.The northern Jaffna peninsula, which has traditionally experienced a scarcity of uncontaminated underground fresh water, should consider adopting new rainwater harvesting methods to meet the increasing demand, a German expert said this week in Colombo.

“The Jaffna peninsula receives an average annual rainfall of 120 centimetres which is adequate for its population’s consumption needs if this water is captured, stored and governed correctly,” said Herald Kraft, a consultant for the German Development Cooperation’s (GTZ) Jaffna Rehabilitation Project. “In fact, rain water is the most uncontaminated water source in Jaffna, because there is almost no air-polluting industry on the peninsula and the main cloud masses reach Jaffna having passed over the sea.”

Mr. Kraft was speaking at a seminar held at the International Water Management Institute on the potential of rainwater harvesting in the Jaffna peninsula. The third of a series of seminars on the subject, it was organized by the GTZ Jaffna Rehabilitation Project, which has spearheaded relief and reconstruction work in Jaffna since 1996.

Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation & Development, GTZ has been involved in the rehabilitation of the peninsula’s water supply system and the rebuilding of war damaged schools and houses.

Mr. Kraft, who had spent many months conducting a study on “Water Supply, Rain Water Harvesting, Waste Water and Solid Waste Management in the Jaffna peninsula”, revealed alarming information which indicated the gravity of the groundwater situation in Jaffna and the islands. The Jaffna topography is such, that the thin cover of soil over the ground water table, which consists mainly of sandy soil with an infiltration capacity of 50 m/d, provides no protection against pollutants from entering the ground water from the surface.

The sandy soil has very low absorption and therefore a low purification capacity. Whatever is applied onto the soil or buried in the loil reaches down to the ground water. Agricultural fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, as well as solid and liquid industrial wasters, oil, diesel and petrol and the wide variety of domestic and liquid waste can easily pollute the ground water.

The lime stone cover, which is widespread in the Jaffna peninsula, provides almost no purification capacity, permitting all pollutants reaching the ground water to spread far and wide. Salination, along with contamination from the surface, has made it vital for such drinking water from local ground water sources to undergo sophisticated chemical treatment before it can be considered safe for human consumption.

According to GTZ experts, with more and more refugees returning to their homes in Jaffna, the peninsula’s population is likely to increase rapidly, putting additional pressure on this already sensitive environment.

As a means of introducing and popularizing rainwater harvesting, GTZ will launch a pilot project at the Kopay Christian College. The school buildings at this college provide 1,845 square metres of roof surface and will be connected to a cistern of 600 cubic metres. It is estimated that this collection will be sufficient to provide drinking water to the students and teachers of the college for a year.

GTZ experts pointed out that schools, hospitals, and public buildings that have large roof areas, usually covered with clay tiles, are perfectly suited for rainwater harvesting. They hoped the success of the pilot project would encourage many others in the peninsula to adopt this method, which would ensure an alternative source of fresh, uncontaminated water for the people of Jaffna.

(Late ACB Pethiyagoda, a career tea planter worked for Ceylon Tobacco Co. in agriculture related projects post retirement and was associated in several water management initiatives. This article was written and first published in July 2023 in the Sunday Island)

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Features

Coercive laws recipe for future misrule

Published

24 hours ago

2026/10/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

by Jehan Perera

The NPP government is going after powerful figures from the past and present who have engaged in corruption, fraud and criminal activity in a way that no previous government in Sri Lanka has done. Former ministers, politicians and senior state officials are among those facing investigations and legal proceedings. The government has placed before Parliament a document listing 50 cases involving corruption, fraud and other crimes. These include not only financial offences but also cases relating to the Easter Sunday attacks, the killings of Lasantha Wickrematunge and Wasim Thajudeen, the disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda and attacks on journalists Keith Noyahr and Upali Tennakoon.

The significance of this effort is that it can demonstrate that nobody is above the law, regardless of political connections or social standing, which will help restore public confidence in institutions that have long been distrusted. It could also recover public resources, improve the investment climate and strengthen the foundations for a more prosperous and just Sri Lanka. When criticised for focusing on the past and not the present, the government position is that these investigations were initiated under earlier governments, particularly between 2015 and 2019, and that it is now allowing investigators to proceed to deal with the backlog without political interference.

But there is an aspect of the government’s approach that is less justifiable. While pursuing past wrongdoing by powerful individuals, it is also advancing a triumvirate of draft laws that could give the state sweeping powers over citizens, organisations and dissent in the present and future. The draft Prevention of Terrorism legislation, the Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill and the NGO Registration and Supervision Bill raise serious questions about the over-centralisation of power. Each of these laws strengthens the powers of the state while weakening the rights and safeguards that protect people from their misuse and thus questions the basic rights of people in democracy where ‘the power of the people is vested in the government’. This is a recipe for future misrule rather than the rule of law. As the well-known saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Proposed Laws

The real test of system change, for which the government obtained an overwhelming mandate, requires not only a government willing to hold others accountable, but one prepared to subject itself to the same principles of legality, transparency and restraint. The three proposed laws that are particularly important in this regard are the Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill, the Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill and the NGO Registration and Supervision Bill. Each of these draft laws has been presented as serving a legitimate purpose. Preventing terrorism, combating organised crime and ensuring that NGOs do not facilitate money laundering or terrorist financing are proper responsibilities of the state. Sri Lanka has international obligations in these areas, and no responsible government can disregard them. However, the existence of a legitimate objective does not justify every means adopted to achieve it.

The proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill illustrates the problem. Although its definition of terrorism draws on a model developed by a former United Nations Special Rapporteur, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has warned that the definition of terrorism extends beyond the model and could bring legitimate political protest, trade union action and civil disobedience within the scope of counter-terrorism legislation. Its concerns also include prolonged detention, inadequate judicial oversight and restrictions on access to legal counsel. These are objections that go to the heart of the relationship between the citizen and the state. The government cannot credibly promise to protect democratic freedoms while creating powers that could be used to restrict them. It is necessary for the government to reassess the draft through transparent consultation and revise provisions that could criminalise legitimate dissent.

The Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill raises similar concerns. It is presented as giving effect to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, which Sri Lanka ratified in 2006. The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has argued that the convention does not require many of the bill’s provisions. The proposed law extends to a broad range of offences, permits detention orders lasting up to a year, makes confessions to police admissible for purposes of legal evidence, and introduces extensive surveillance powers. A law intended to dismantle criminal networks should not create a parallel system of exceptional powers that could be applied far beyond organised crime. Nor should safeguards developed through years of experience with abuses under the Prevention of Terrorism Act be weakened through legislation bearing a different name. The government should review whether or not existing laws could be used effectively to control these crimes or whether each exceptional power is necessary.

Civil Society

The proposed NGO Registration and Supervision Bill presents another test of the government’s intentions. The government may reasonably seek transparency in the finances of organisations receiving public or foreign funds, including measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. It seeks to justify its overreach on the grounds of meeting the internationally mandated requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for the Asia-Pacific region. But these objectives do not justify placing civil society and NGOs under excessive administrative control when even the FATF ranks them as low to medium risks. The draft bill would require registration and renewal, impose extensive obligations on organisations and empower authorities to suspend or deregister them on broadly framed grounds. It is important to redraft provisions that confer excessive discretion over registration, renewal, suspension and deregistration of NGOs.

Among the concerns raised by United Nations human rights special rapporteurs with regard to the draft NGO law are provisions requiring organisations to align with government policies and restrictions that could affect advocacy, dissent and freedom of association. The implications extend well beyond organisations that engage directly with the government. Community groups, human rights organisations, independent researchers and organisations working on reconciliation or accountability could find their activities constrained by uncertainty over how these provisions might be interpreted. Organisations that criticise government policies are not thereby working against the country. Their freedom to do so is part of what distinguishes a democracy from a system in which the government determines which opinions and activities are acceptable.

The government has generated considerable public goodwill through its pursuit of corruption and criminality. It should not assume that this goodwill gives it an unlimited mandate to strengthen the coercive powers of the state. The NPP knows from its own history that governments can treat dissent as a threat and use the machinery of the state against their opponents. There is still time to correct the drafts through transparent public consultation, narrow definitions of offences, meaningful judicial control over detention and surveillance, and effective remedies against arbitrary decisions. A government that pursues corruption while weakening safeguards against state abuse risks undermining its own achievements. Besides bringing to light the abuse of power by previous governments, the NPP government needs to build a system in which no future government can abuse power in the belief they can get away with it.

Features

Quality assurance without quality enhancement: The irony of university QA

Published

24 hours ago

2026/10/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

By Ramya Kumar

According to the Quality Assurance Council (QAC) of the University Grants Commission (UGC), quality assurance (QA) refers to “the means (i.e. the policies, attitudes, actions, procedures, etc.), by which an institution can guarantee with confidence and certainty, that the standards and quality of its educational provision are being maintained and enhanced”.

An expansive structure has been in place since 2005 to govern and implement QA processes within the state university system. The QAC is the focal point at the UGC that implements external reviews of state universities and institutes. Each university has its own Centre for Quality Assurance (CQA) tasked with performing QA in line with QAC directives. Faculties, in turn, have Internal Quality Assurance Cells (IQAC) performing their own QA; they are answerable to the CQA.

The big question is whether this all-encompassing top-down QA system, that in many ways undermines the internal dynamics of university governance, actually supports universities to enhance the quality of education. This article highlights some concerns.

Top-down check-box activities

The QAC conducts external reviews of universities and degree programmes. A review team appointed by the UGC (who may or may not have experience in the institution/programme in question) examines the self-evaluation report submitted by the said institution/programme. The team then conducts a site visit to verify the claims made in the university’s self-evaluation report, clarify issues identified during the desk review, and examine how QA procedures operate in practice. The team holds meetings with the university administration, members of the Council and Senate, Deans, Heads of Departments, academic and non-academic staff, students, and others. Following the visit, a draft report is submitted to the relevant institution/programme for comment before final publication. The reviewed institution/programme then prepares and publishes an action plan addressing the recommendations, with subsequent monitoring of progress.

There are some worthy QA initiatives under implementation, such as improving facilities for students with disabilities and strengthening mechanisms to address sexual- and gender-based violence. However, for the most part, QA activities have little to do with improving the quality of education. They are mostly preoccupied with monitoring faculty and department websites, digital transformation, student feedback, subject evaluation, course evaluation, peer evaluation, and, more recently, staff appraisal. These activities, which consume an inordinate amount of time—so precious at understaffed universities—have become check-box activities completed to generate evidence for the next review. Below is an excerpt of a conversation between two academics (1 and 2) that conveys how QA plays out at universities (reproduced with permission).

1: … .it’s like social media you know, like posting things on Facebook or twitter or Instagram. When people do a lot of social media, everything they do, they do thinking, “okay I’m going to post it in this way… this I have to put on my Instagram.” QA is a little like that… everything is considered in light of, “ah we can use this for the review, as evidence… for example very recently we were encouraged to have all the things that we do in our department in the faculty newsletter so then they can put in the review. Every little thing has to be noted down….

2: And with pictures and all…

1: At the very least it has to be written so that you have written evidence .. you can’t be doing something for the sake of doing something or because it is good for the department … and sometimes people tell me “oh yea that’s a good idea we can fit that under this x, y section of the review..”

2: Yea, and nobody really thinks about the actual outcome… whether it’s actually helping anyone..

1: I also find that a lot of the words that we used in different ways have now been co-opted to the QA discourse ..including quality.. I can’t actually say what I want as an “outcome”, for example, that the outcome of this workshop is that my students “think about” … then I am told “ah but no that’s not one of the Bloom’s taxonomy words, “think about”.…

2: And the worst part is these medical and agriculture people, these types of people go around spreading it like some kind of gospel!

1: Yea, this cookie cutter way of doing things, they think is the height of innovativeness or creativity, when actually it is so mundane … for me the most awful thing about it is like some fungus of mundanity has taken over through QA reviews.

2: yea, when you say QA, my mind closes off immediately and I stop listening…

Auditing everything but power

QA leaves out crucial aspects of university governance. For instance, there is no review or assessment of the “quality” of university administrations under Criterion 1 or the integrity of procedures governing the promotion of academic staff under Criterion 6 of the institutional reviews.

The majority in the Council—the university’s executive and governing body, which is responsible for selecting the Vice-Chancellor (VC)—are appointed in ad hoc fashion. Apart from the Ex-Officio members in the Council (VC, Deans, etc.), and the two members elected by the Senate, the remainder are appointed by the UGC with no formal consultation or vetting procedure. The VC appointment process described in UGC Circular No. 03/2023 exemplifies how an ostensibly technical process can become entangled in political sycophancy. The Registrar invites applications for the position of VC through advertisement. Applicants must submit a curriculum vitae, a statement of vision for the university and supporting documents. The University Council appoints a three-member Search Committee of senior academics to encourage “eminent persons” to apply, while the UGC appoints a former VC from another university to “observe” the selection process.

A Special Meeting of the University Council is convened. Candidates are interviewed and must make a presentation to the Council Members, followed by questions. Each Council member “gives marks” for seven prescribed criteria: strategic focus (20%), effective leadership (20%), holistic thinking/conceptual skills (10%), academic and research excellence (15%), personal integrity (10%), professional communication (10%) and managerial competence (15%). Marks are averaged, and the Council recommends three candidates to the UGC in rank order. The UGC-appointed observer separately submits a confidential report on the selection process.

This procedure is expected to guarantee quality, but does it? Applications are submitted to the Council Members, who have been appointed on questionable bases, and who are expected to review the applications and give scores, based on objective assessments. But, in reality, most Council Members are manipulated by VC candidates, who often have personal ties with them. The UGC-appointed observer usually has no genuine interest in the outcome. And there is no way for anyone to actually question the Council’s decision once it is made. Although the highest-ranked candidate may ultimately be appointed, the selection remains a political decision made by the President, who retains the discretion to appoint any one of the three.

External reviews also do not look into the promotions of academic staff, except to scrutinise whether there are policies and procedures in place to govern promotion. Academic staff may apply for promotion to Professor once they satisfy the prescribed eligibility requirements, which typically include the period of service, academic qualifications, research and publication achievements, teaching experience, and contributions to the university and wider community. Applications are evaluated against specified criteria, with research output and academic contributions assessed through documentary evidence and expert evaluation. Under the UGC’s scheme for Professors, two experts from outside the applicant’s institution assess specified aspects of research and knowledge dissemination. Again, beneath this technical process, which is externally evaluated, lies a problematic points-based scheme that can be manipulated and abused with impunity.

Rethinking university QA

Like the VC election process and the schemes of promotion for academic staff, QA reviews are open to manipulation. Before a review, there is a chaotic rush to complete evidence gathering and reporting. Academics leave all other work aside, including at times their teaching, to focus on completing documentation and preparing reports. The standardised criteria in the review manuals and scoring sheets often do not reflect differences in disciplines and institutional contexts. But this does not really matter because any serious problems experienced by institutions or programmes are hastily brushed under the carpet to conceal any evidence that could taint the review. The goal is to obtain an A or at least a B grade at whatever cost.

QA may result in positive change if it moves beyond top-down check-box activities towards internally designed and owned processes encompassing all aspects of university governance, led by departments and faculties, and supported by adequate resources. The current QA system needs to be dismantled and replaced by procedures that are accountable, not to the UGC, but to our students and the communities we serve.

(Ramya Kumar is attached to the Department of Community and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna)

. Kuppi is a politics and pedagogy happening on the margins of the lecture hall that parodies, subverts, and simultaneously reaffirms social hierarchies.

Features

Down Memory Lane — the Grand 20th Edition!

Published

24 hours ago

2026/10/13

Sahan Weerasooriya

Down Memory Lane: Ready to sing again

Yes, Down Memory Lane, the beloved Sing-Along concert series that first struck a chord, way back in 1997, returns for its landmark 20th edition this Saturday, 17th October, at the beautiful Bolgoda Grand Resort, Moratuwa town centre.

Having celebrated its glorious 25th anniversary with the show in 2023, this milestone 20th concert promises to be even more special.

The organisers, the ever-popular Moratuwa Arts Forum, are pulling out all the stops to present yet another unforgettable evening, brimming with camaraderie, fellowship, and pure nostalgia.

Get ready for two-and-a-half hours of non-stop singing as veteran vocalists, from the Moratuwa Arts Forum, will take the stage to lead and inspire the happy audience to sing, sing and sing to their hearts’ content.

The repertoire? Absolutely magical, according to the organisers.

Veteran Arun Dias Bandaranaike: Will handle the evening’s proceedings / Priya Peiris: Event Conceptor

Around 40 golden oldies — from timeless English vintage evergreens and hits from the 50s to the 90s, to toe-tapping calypsos, soulful American plantation melodies, rousing cowboy and Dixieland favourites, aa well as cherished Sinhala standards. All to be sung with much gusto!

This year’s dedicated organising committee comprises Brian Coorey (Chairman), Priya Peiris (Event Conceptor), Hiran Fernando, Suranga Fernando, Viranjan Perera, Hemka Fernando and Neelesh Silva. Guidance and support comes from Moratuwa Arts Forum President Sarana Guneratne and Secretary Chandani Silva.

Adding his signature charm to the evening, as Master of Ceremonies, will be the veteran Arun Dias Bandaranaike.

Don’t miss this landmark celebration of music and memories!

For further details, contact Hiran Fernando on 0772636446 or WhatsApp 0783636446.