By Ifham Nizam

Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera yesterday disclosed that Sri Lanka had been ranked 31st in the Global Weather Risk Index.

Addressing the media in Colombo he said that in 2017, Sri Lanka had been ranked 109th in the World weather Risk Index as a country with a high risk of weather prone disasters.

“We cannot make proper forecasts as freak rains will increase in the next few days. All of these situations occur as a result of global warming. I saw a report of a big flood situation in India too. Last week, our,” Amaraweera said.

All the Heads of State who attended the United Nations COP 26 Summit in Glasgow, Scotland along with President Rajapaksa stressed on the steps to be taken to control global warming, Minister Amaraweera said.

The Minister warned: “We are a small country. Our country is not a country that emits significant greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But we also have a responsibility to protect our environment. Deforestation and arson in mountainous areas can lead to landslides, even during normal rains. Therefore, decisions made by Disaster Management Centre as well as District Secretaries and Divisional Secretaries after identifying landslide symptoms have to be implemented reluctantly or risk to life is high”.

When I was the Minister of Disaster Management, the Koslanda-Meeriyabedda landslide occurred on October 29, 2014. As far as I remember, the landslide killed 37 people. And in the same year there was a great flood in the east. As the Minister of Disaster Management I went to both places and assisted the people.

They worked to save the country from disaster.”

He expressed concern about 20 people losing their lives due to landslides and floods in the current freak weather situation.

Therefore, it should not be forgotten that even though our country is a small country, according to the Global Weather Risk Index, it has reached the peak in being prone to weather caused disasters, the Minister said.

Meanwhile the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) estimates that between 30 and 38 percent of the country’s population lives in landslide-prone areas.

An NBRO study says it is about 20-30 percent of the total land area.