Features

Development Anthropologist

Published

3 months ago

2025/09/14

VARIETIES OF CASTE CONSCIOUSNESS. Edited with an
Introduction by Kalinga Tudor Silva
and Mark E Balmforth. In CASTE: A
Global Journal on Social Exclusion, Vol 6:
No. 1, April 2025.

Caste is a social reality that structures human relationships. It serves as a framework for managing interactions among individuals and a platform for organising political, social and economic reforms. The caste system, with its complex histories and multifaceted institutions, encompasses social, economic, cultural, and religious aspects of human life. It guides and sometimes forces people to live in a complex social, cultural, political, and religious milieu.

Bundles of rules and values that have emerged from various locations within religious, social, and political traditions and actions sustain them. A caste system, over time, becomes an engulfing culture that helps organise people and their communities into a rigid system of relationships, hierarchically organised, and sometimes, sanctioned by dominant religions, such as Hinduism.

As a rigid hierarchical system, caste thrives on systemic a priori inclusion and exclusion modalities. Ambedkar aptly summarised the roots and the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion as follows:

The outcaste, a term used to describe those who are considered untouchable and outside the caste system, is a byproduct of the caste system. There will be outcasts as long as there are castes. Nothing can emancipate the outcaste except by the destruction of the caste system. Nothing can ensure their survival except the purging of the Hindu faith of this odious and vicious dogma.

Ambedkar’s tireless advocacy for outcaste (Dalit) communities to adopt his visionary ideals of liberty, social justice, and equality helped to take caste out of parochial village spaces and premise it in a broader public sphere. According to him, national and regional Hindu dominance in India blocks the opportunities that the Dalits also can occupy to achieve a more just society. Ambedkar rejected Gandhi’s Harijan Seva Sangh because it was a paternalistic mechanism that reinforced Hindu dominance rather than empowered the Dalits.

Moreover, the Harijan Seva Sangh denied the lower castes an independent expression of their authentic social identity, thereby tacitly claiming their acquiescence to an inegalitarian social and ethical value set. Ambedkar recognised the embeddedness of the caste system in Hindu society and the economy. He wanted to ‘annihilate’ the caste system because nothing can emancipate the outcaste without first destroying the caste system.

Illustration of Ambedkar’s conversion of Dailts to Buddhism

Caste takes different forms in different countries. In India, Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), and Sudras (labourers) form a caste system. It excludes the Dalits (outcastes or untouchables), who are not part of the varna system. The sacred dimension of the caste system enables the Brahmins to become the custodians of Hindu values, beliefs, practices and resources. The binary of ‘sacred’ and ‘polluted’ not only keeps the Dalits out of the hierarchy but also justifies exploitation and violence against them.

In Sri Lanka, on the other hand, the caste system does not have a manifested sacred dimension as found in India. There is no Brahmin caste in Sri Lanka, except for a few Hindu priests who handle Hindu rituals. The allocation of people and communities to various castes based on sacred and polluted criteria is absent in Sri Lanka. Instead, employment and differential ethics of interaction indicate the relative status of a caste in the caste hierarchy.

Although a caste system is a vertically organised system with formidable barriers against upward mobility, several mechanisms facilitate caste mobility. One is Sanskritization. By imitating the value system and general behaviour of the upper caste, a lower caste can, over a long period of time, move upward in the hierarchy, but still create a ‘shadow effect’ on the Dalits. Another way to climb higher, bypassing various rigidities, is to physically move away from the original location and embrace westernisation, primarily through education, mastering new skills, and investments in land and businesses.

The State and non-state sectors provide the most promising way for upward mobility through development programmes aimed at social transformation and land reform. Such programmes empower the lower castes and outcastes by treating them as normal citizens with equal rights to life, who can share in egalitarian state welfare.

The co-editors introduced the four articles (read at a symposium on Caste in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Diaspora), succinctly outlining the main arguments and findings under three main themes. One theme is the legacy of the colonial administration, which attempted to separate caste from class to create the impression that caste is dead and the elite is triumphant. The second is historical mediation, which has shaped the expectations and imaginings of different castes and their coexistence with class identities, without erasing the binary of inclusion and exclusion. The third theme is that the caste system remains alive as a complex social reality influencing political, economic, cultural, and social spaces, refuting the belief that it has succumbed to modernisation and globalisation. The findings underscore the urgent need for further research and policy action to address this persistent issue.

Article 1 – Dynamics between Cinnamon and Salagama People – examines how the domestication of cinnamon production helped consolidate the caste system in southern Sri Lanka. It is premised on a ‘multispecies’ perspective to highlight the roles of human and non-human actors in shaping the Sinhala caste system. Apart from human interlocutors, a particular plant species, cinnamon, is associated with the natural resource base of the Sinhala caste system. Thus, the specificity of and challenges for caste need to be understood not only from the angle of social justice and human rights but also in terms of environmental justice and sustainability of caste occupations. Global marketing challenges, the absence of quality control mechanisms, land scarcity, urbanization, and smallholder farming practices have challenged the coexistence between the plant and the caste. Such factors have encouraged the formation of a subaltern group of low-paid cinnamon workers.

Article 2 – Cultural Ambivalences Towards and Among Drummer Caste Members explores three types of cultural ambivalences. One is the Sinhala society’s attitudes towards the caste; the second is the State’s ambivalence towards the drummer caste; and the third is mixed attitudes towards drumming and rituals within the caste itself. The article highlights how the drummer caste has reacted and coped with such ambivalences. The neoliberal economic framework has enhanced such ambivalences in the context of radical political movements such as the Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP). Some gave up drumming and dancing altogether and transitioned to non-caste employment and businesses. In contrast, others took advantage of the new opportunities opened up by the local tourist economy to earn a living through performing their ritualistic performances.

Article 3 – Recasting the Brahmin: the Epistemic Critique of Caste – discusses how the Sinhala literature has emphasized ethnicity over caste in selecting themes for creative writing, reflecting the public silence on the caste system. Based on Martin Wickramasighe’s Bava Tharanaya (Crossing the Cycle of Existence) and Bamunu Kulaye Bindavatima (Fall of the Brahmin Caste), the article examines the justification and limitations of knowledge and belief, questioning how and why particular claims are accepted or rejected, thereby fostering more rigorous understanding and critical thinking. As allegorical narratives, the two books present stories where characters, events, and settings represent deeper, symbolic meanings that are moral and political in nature. They are useful literary devices, the article argues, to sensitize the Sinhala reading public about the caste at a time when caste has become politically salient.

Article 4 – Caste, Space, and Retail Religiosity in Tamil Toronto demonstrates how the caste system still plays an important role in the Tamil diaspora in Canada, particularly in marriage partner selection at the family level, and temple construction and welfare activities at the community level. The article shows that emigrants from Sri Lanka to Canada think that their community cultural centres, such as Hindu temples, should deploy caste as a part of their cultural heritage that includes temples, the Tamil language, and Tamil music. The emigrant generation believes that preserving such heritage would help them and their children survive in a foreign environment.

The first generation, born in Canada, on the other hand, are reticent about caste, and sees it as an inappropriate transplant that makes it more difficult for them, to assimilate into local communities. The article describes significant differences between diaspora temples in Toronto and Tamil temples in Sri Lanka. Such differences are structural and could impact on the survival of the caste in its current form. Hindu temples in Toronto are often movable entities, frequently located in urban areas within rented warehouses. Local Zoning laws and the ‘light industrial’ retail market limit the sacred rights of Hindu caste groups in owning temple land. Toronto temple custodians move back and forth between describing temples as businesses and as kôvil. Temple managers use mass media to attract devotees in a competitive temple market. Moreover, Toronto temples attract diaspora devotees by offering a shelter from the morally corrosive, identity-eroding influences of urban Canada.

Five general research articles on Indian caste issues follow the four symposium articles. The first research Article – Reimagining Resources: The Politics of Dalit Land Struggles – analyses the history and dynamics of land alienation in Kerala, the representation of land in social reform movements that transcend Brahmin-imposed sub-caste fragmentation, and how social reforms provide a platform to assert the rights of the deprived sections. Although some reform movements have unified the untouchable castes around common concerns such as land ownership and education, the ruling classes, dominated by higher castes, with the support of the Communist Party, have thwarted such movements by employing the strategy of sub-caste fragmentation. The article recognizes the value and usefulness of charismatic leaders who can guide social mobilization, particularly in a caste-ridden society, to build trust and unity among the depressed castes.

The second research article – Struggle for Emancipation and Dalit Consciousness – analyses inter-generational struggles among Dalits to emancipate themselves from high-caste aggression. The article is based on an autobiography ‘My Father Baliah.’ By following one family over three generations, the autobiography examines the rise, fall, and resurgence of the caste system. During the second ascending generation, “untouchability presented itself glaringly just like the sound of a howling steam engine.”

During the British period, the caste system became antithetical to the modernity introduced through colonialism. However, it did not vanish altogether. Instead, it has transformed into subtler forms of aggression by silently infiltrating modern institutions, thereby posing a threat to the struggles for Dalit emancipation. The “upper” caste people and also the Sudras were reluctant to discard their superiority and purity claims, not only within colonial institutions but also in post-independent India. The book reaffirms Ambedkar’s observation that no constitutional safeguards so far had really helped the hapless Dalits; they remained excluded, segregated and untouchable in free India. The mindset of upper-caste Hindus had not changed much despite the relentless efforts of Dr B.R. Ambedkar.

The third research article – From Margins to Mainstream: Caste, Women, and Panchayati Institutions – evaluates the effects of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Amendment Act, 2015, on the empowerment of Scheduled Caste women in Panchayati Raj Institutions. It argues that empowerment of women, particularly in political contexts, is vital for advancing gender equality and enabling them to combat social and economic marginalization and exploitation by higher castes. The article emphasizes the need for targeted educational initiatives to encourage female participation in development discourse.

The fourth research article – Caste Prejudices in Denial: University Students’ Perceptions – points out that caste prejudices are more pronounced among dominant castes than among others, and are more likely to resist caste-oriented reforms, such as reservations and inter-caste marriages, by delegitimizing caste as a category of contemporary discrimination. At the same time, the disadvantaged communities demonstrate their awareness of the structural inequalities that suppress them. The above patterns mirror broader societal trends in India, where dominant caste groups often endorse economic or meritocratic framings to avoid the acknowledgment of caste inequalities. Caste group identification has emerged as a key predictor in shaping the views on reservation policies.

The ‘General’ category people perceive the policies as unfair and discriminatory because they think such policies would shrink their opportunities to gain. Conversely, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and other backwards caste categories support reservation policies, as they directly benefit from the affirmative actions. The article also reaffirms the importance of higher education as a potential space for social transformation, as it engages students in meaningful reflection and cross-group interaction.

The fifth Research Article – Consciousness Not Without Dangers – focuses on Dalits’ willingness to abandon Hinduism as a protest against untouchability, assert their rights as citizens, and also to escape from its suppression. The key question is whether the Dalits have the capacity to break free from the caste system and become a new, independent Self. The article cogently points out the risks and dangers that surround such a willingness and actions. The majority of Hindus would consider such converted Dalits as transgressors who have challenged the social stratification of the sacred Hindu caste system. Such actions inevitably invite physical violence and violation of their constitutional rights. In the case of Dalit conversions to non-Indic religions, violence tends to be overt, raw, and physical, often driven by a fear of losing cultural and social control within the Hindu fold. In contrast, conversions to Indic religions, which theoretically reject the caste system, face more covert forms of violence, such as legal and political obstacles.

The absence of a concluding chapter, especially one summarising the five general research articles and providing a general conclusion for the entire collection, leaves the reader with the intellectual task of connecting the dots between the articles. From a stylistic point of view, symposium articles are well structured and edited than the five general research articles. Although the difference between an ‘article’ and a ‘research article’ is known to academic journal readers, the general reader might get confused by the distinction. They might think the distinction reflects the quality or the depth of an article.

The articles cogently deliver a cohesive narrative of how caste is embedded in the South Asian social fabric, reinforcing social hierarchies, maintaining power structures, and ensuring their continuity. The authors have elaborated on covert forms of everyday caste aggression, resistance, and compliance in rural spaces and urban environments. Some articles have shown how school education and the generation of non-caste employment help the privileged and the non-privileged to move upwards in social and economic ladders. The collection highlights the need for further anthropological research on caste systems, caste politics, social and economic transformations, Dalit resistance movements, and the role of the State in actively promoting Dalit emancipation. The articles will also interest those curious about caste and mobility, as they offer a compelling and multifaceted examination of the caste system.

A Review Article

by Jayantha Perera ✍️

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Features

Trade preferences to support post-Ditwah reconstruction

Published

10 hours ago

2025/12/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

Ditwah disaster

The manner in which the government succeeded in mobilising support from the international community, immediately after the devastating impact of Cyclone Ditwah, may have surprised many people of this country, particularly because our Opposition politicians were ridiculing our “inexperienced” government, in the recent past, for its inability to deal with the international community effectively. However, by now it is evident that the government, with the assistance of the international community and local nongovernmental actors, like major media organisations, has successfully managed the recovery efforts. So, let me begin by thanking them for what they have done so far.

Yet, some may argue that it is not difficult to mobilise the support for recovery efforts from the international community, immediately after any major disaster, and the real challenge is to sustain that support through the next few weeks, months and years. Because the recovery process, more specifically the post-recovery reconstruction process, requires long-term support. So, the government agencies should start immediately to focus on, in addition to initial disaster relief, a longer-term strategy for reconstruction. This is important because in a few weeks’ time, the focus of the global community may shift elsewhere … to another crisis in another corner of the world. Before that happens, the government should take initiatives to get the support from development partners on appropriate policy measures, including exceptional trade preferences, to help Sri Lanka in the recovery efforts through the medium and the long term.

Use of Trade Preferences to support recovery and reconstruction

In the past, the United States and the European Union used exceptional enhanced trade preferences as part of the assistance packages when countries were devastated by natural disasters, similar to Cyclone Ditwah. For example:

After the devastating floods in Pakistan, in July 2010, the EU granted temporary, exceptional trade preferences to Pakistan (autonomous trade preferences) to aid economic recovery. This measure was a de facto waiver on the standard EU GSP (Generalised Scheme of Preferences) rules. The preferences, which were proposed in October 2010 and were applied until the end of 2013, effectively suspended import duties on 75 types of goods, including textiles and apparel items. The available studies on this waiver indicate that though a significant export hike occurred within a few months after the waiver became effective it did not significantly depress exports by competing countries. Subsequently, Pakistan was granted GSP+ status in 2014.
Similarly, after the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, the United States supported Nepal through an extension of unilateral additional preferences, the Nepal Trade Preferences Programme (NTPP). This was a 10-year initiative to grant duty-free access for up to 77 specific Nepali products to aid economic recovery after the 2015 earthquakes. This was also a de facto waiver on the standard US GSP rules.
Earlier, after Hurricanes Mitch and Georges caused massive devastation across the Caribbean Basin nations, in 1998, severely impacting their economies, the United States proposed a long-term strategy for rebuilding the region that focused on trade enhancement. This resulted in the establishment of the US Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), which was signed into law on 05 October, 2000, as Title II of the Trade and Development Act of 2000. This was a more comprehensive facility than those which were granted to Pakistan and Nepal.

What type of concession should Sri Lanka request from our development partners?

Given these precedents, it is appropriate for Sri Lanka to seek specific trade concessions from the European Union and the United States.

In the European Union, Sri Lanka already benefits from the GSP+ scheme. Under this arrangement Sri Lanka’s exports (theoretically) receive duty-free access into the EU markets. However, in 2023, Sri Lanka’s preference utilisation rate, that is, the ratio of preferential imports to GSP+ eligible imports, stood at 59%. This was significantly below the average utilisation of other GSP beneficiary countries. For example, in 2023, preference utilisation rates for Bangladesh and Pakistan were 90% and 88%, respectively. The main reason for the low utilisation rate of GSP by Sri Lanka is the very strict Rules of Origin requirements for the apparel exports from Sri Lanka. For example, to get GSP benefits, a woven garment from Sri Lanka must be made from fabric that itself had undergone a transformation from yarn to fabric in Sri Lanka or in another qualifying country. However, a similar garment from Bangladesh only requires a single-stage processing (that is, fabric to garment) qualifies for GSP. As a result, less than half of Sri Lanka’s apparel exports to the EU were ineligible for the preferences in 2023.

Sri Lanka should request a relaxation of this strict rule of origin to help economic recovery. As such a concession only covers GSP Rules of Origin only it would impact multilateral trade rules and would not require WTO approval. Hence could be granted immediately by the EU.

United States

Sri Lanka should submit a request to the United States for (a) temporary suspension of the recently introduced 20% additional ad valorem duty and (b) for a programme similar to the Nepal Trade Preferences Programme (NTPP), but designed specifically for Sri Lanka’s needs. As NTPP didn’t require WTO approval, similar concessions also can be granted without difficulty.

Similarly, country-specific requests should be carefully designed and submitted to Japan and other major trading partners.

(The writer is a retired public servant and can be reached at senadhiragomi@gmail.com)

by Gomi Senadhira

Features

Lasting power and beauty of words

Published

10 hours ago

2025/12/15

Sahan Weerasooriya

Novelists, poets, short story writers, lyricists, politicians and columnists use words for different purposes. While some of them use words to inform and elevate us, others use them to bolster their ego. If there was no such thing called words, we cannot even imagine what will happen to us. Whether you like it or not everything rests on words. If the Penal Code does not define a crime and prescribe a punishment, judges will not be able to convict criminals. Even the Constitution of our country is a printed document.

A mother’s lullaby contains snatches of sweet and healing words. The effect is immediate. The baby falls asleep within seconds. A lover’s soft and alluring words go right into his or her beloved. An army commander’s words encourage soldiers to go forward without fear. The British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s words still ring in our ears: “… we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender …”

Writers wax eloquent on love. English novelist John Galsworthy wrote: “Love is no hot-house flower, but a wild plant, born of a wet night, born of an hour of sunshine; sprung from wild seed, blown along the road by a wild wind. A wild plant that, when it blooms by chance within the hedge of our gardens, we call a flower; and when it blooms outside we call a weed; but flower or weed, whose scent and colour are always wild.” While living in a world dominated by technology, we often hear a bunch of words that is colourless and often cut to verbal ribbons – “How R U” or “Luv U.” Such words seem to squeeze the life out of language.

Changing medium

Language is a constantly changing medium. New words and forms arrive and old ones die out. Whoever thought that the following Sinhala words would find a place in the Oxford English Dictionary? “Asweddumize, Avurudu, Baila, Kiribath, Kottu Roti, Mallung, Osari, Papare, Walawwa and Watalappan.” With all such borrowed words the English language is expanding and remains beautiful. The language helps us to express subtle ideas clearly and convincingly.

You are judged by the words you use. If you constantly use meaningless little phrases, you will be considered a worthless person. When you read a well-written piece of writing you will note how words jump and laugh on the paper or screen. Some of them wag their tails while others stand back like shy village belles. However, they serve a useful purpose. Words help us to write essays, poems, short stories and novels. If not for the beauty of the language, nobody will read what you write.

If you look at the words meaningfully, you will see some of them tap dancing while others stand to rigid attention. Big or small, all the words you pen form part of the action or part of the narrative. The words you write make your writing readable and exciting. That is why we read our favourite authors again and again.

Editorials

If a marriage is to succeed, partners should respect and love each other. Similarly, if you love words, they will help you to use them intelligently and forcefully. A recent survey in the United States has revealed that only eight per cent of people read the editorial. This is because most editorials are not readable. However, there are some editorials which compel us to read them. Some readers collect such editorials to be read later.

Only a lover of words would notice how some words run smoothly without making a noise. Other words appear to be dancing on the floor. Some words of certain writers are soothing while others set your blood pounding. There is a young monk who is preaching using simple words very effectively. He has a large following of young people addicted to drugs. After listening to his preaching, most of them have given up using illegal drugs. The message is loud and clear. If there is no demand for drugs, nobody will smuggle them into the country.

Some politicians use words so rounded at the edges and softened by wear that they are no longer interesting. The sounds they make are meaningless and listeners get more and more confused. Their expressions are full of expletives the meaning of which is often soiled with careless use of words.

Weather-making

Some words, whether written or spoken, stick like superglue. You will never forget them. William Vergara in his short essay on weather-making says, “Cloud-seeding has touched off one of the most baffling controversies in meteorological history. It has been blamed for or credited with practically all kinds of weather. Some scientists claim seeding can produce floods and hail. Others insist it creates droughts and dissipates clouds. Still others staunchly maintain it has no effect at all. The battle is far from over, but at last one clear conclusion is beginning to emerge: man can change the weather, and he is getting better at it.”

There are words that nurse the ego and heal the heart. The following short paragraph is a good example. S. Radhakrishnan says, “In every religion today we have small minorities who see beyond the horizon of their particular faith, not through religious fellowship is possible, not through the imposition of any one way on the whole but through an all-inclusive recognition that we are all searchers for the truth, pilgrims on the road, that we all aim at the same ethical and spiritual standard.”

There are some words joined together in common phrases. They are so beautiful that they elevate the human race. In the phrase ‘beyond a shadow of doubt’, ‘a shadow’ connotes a dark area covering light. ‘A doubt’ refers to hesitancy in belief. We use such phrases blithely because they are exquisitely beautiful in their structure. The English language is a repository of such miracles of expression that lead to deeper understanding or emphasis.

Social media

Social media use words powerfully. Sometimes they invent new words. Through the social media you can reach millions of viewers without the intervention of the government. Their opinion can stop wars and destroy tyrants. If you use the right words, you can even eliminate poverty to a great extent.

The choice of using powerful words is yours. However, before opening your mouth, tap the computer, unclip a pen, write a lyric or poem, think twice of the effect of your writing. When you talk with a purpose or write with pleasure, you enrich listeners and readers with your marvellous language skills. If you have a command of the language, you will put across your point of view that counts. Always try to find the right words and change the world for a better place for us to live.

By R. S. Karunaratne
karunaratners@gmail.com

Features

Why Sri Lanka Still Has No Doppler Radar – and Who Should Be Held Accountable

Published

1 day ago

2025/12/14

Thilina Walpola

Eighteen Years of Delay:

Cyclone Ditwah has come and gone, leaving a trail of extensive damage to the country’s infrastructure, including buildings, roads, bridges, and 70% of the railway network. Thousands of hectares of farming land have been destroyed. Last but not least, nearly 1,000 people have lost their lives, and more than two million people have been displaced. The visuals uploaded to social media platforms graphically convey the widespread destruction Cyclone Ditwah has caused in our country.

The purpose of my article is to highlight, for the benefit of readers and the general public, how a project to establish a Doppler Weather Radar system, conceived in 2007, remains incomplete after 18 years. Despite multiple governments, shifting national priorities, and repeated natural disasters, the project remains incomplete.

Over the years, the National Audit Office, the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA), and several print and electronic media outlets have highlighted this failure. The last was an excellent five-minute broadcast by Maharaja Television Network on their News First broadcast in October 2024 under a series “What Happened to Sri Lanka”

The Agreement Between the Government of Sri Lanka and the World Meteorological Organisation in 2007.

The first formal attempt to establish a Doppler Radar system dates back to a Trust Fund agreement signed on 24 May 2007 between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). This agreement intended to modernize Sri Lanka’s meteorological infrastructure and bring the country on par with global early-warning standards.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on March 23, 1950. There are 193 member countries of the WMO, including Sri Lanka. Its primary role is to promote the establishment of a worldwide meteorological observation system and to serve as the authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, and the resulting climate and water resources.

According to the 2018 Performance Audit Report compiled by the National Audit Office, the GoSL entered into a trust fund agreement with the WMO to install a Doppler Radar System. The report states that USD 2,884,274 was deposited into the WMO bank account in Geneva, from which the Department of Metrology received USD 95,108 and an additional USD 113,046 in deposit interest. There is no mention as to who actually provided the funds. Based on available information, WMO does not fund projects of this magnitude.

The WMO was responsible for procuring the radar equipment, which it awarded on 18^th June 2009 to an American company for USD 1,681,017. According to the audit report, a copy of the purchase contract was not available.

Monitoring the agreement’s implementation was assigned to the Ministry of Disaster Management, a signatory to the trust fund agreement. The audit report details the members of the steering committee appointed by designation to oversee the project. It consisted of personnel from the Ministry of Disaster Management, the Departments of Metrology, National Budget, External Resources and the Disaster Management Centre.

The Audit Report highlights failures in the core responsibilities that can be summarized as follows:

· Procurement irregularities—including flawed tender processes and inadequate technical evaluations.

· Poor site selection

—proposed radar sites did not meet elevation or clearance requirements.

· Civil works delays

—towers were incomplete or structurally unsuitable.

· Equipment left unused

—in some cases for years, exposing sensitive components to deterioration.

· Lack of inter-agency coordination

—between the Meteorology Department, Disaster Management Centre, and line ministries.

Some of the mistakes highlighted are incomprehensible. There is a mention that no soil test was carried out before the commencement of the construction of the tower. This led to construction halting after poor soil conditions were identified, requiring a shift of 10 to 15 meters from the original site. This resulted in further delays and cost overruns.

The equipment supplier had identified that construction work undertaken by a local contractor was not of acceptable quality for housing sensitive electronic equipment. No action had been taken to rectify these deficiencies. The audit report states, “It was observed that the delay in constructing the tower and the lack of proper quality were one of the main reasons for the failure of the project”.

In October 2012, when the supplier commenced installation, the work was soon abandoned after the vehicle carrying the heavy crane required to lift the radar equipment crashed down the mountain. The next attempt was made in October 2013, one year later. Although the equipment was installed, the system could not be operationalised because electronic connectivity was not provided (as stated in the audit report).

In 2015, following a UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services) inspection, it was determined that the equipment needed to be returned to the supplier because some sensitive electronic devices had been damaged due to long-term disuse, and a further 1.5 years had elapsed by 2017, when the equipment was finally returned to the supplier. In March 2018, the estimated repair cost was USD 1,095,935, which was deemed excessive, and the project was abandoned.

COPA proceedings

The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) discussed the radar project on August 10, 2023, and several press reports state that the GOSL incurred a loss of Rs. 78 million due to the project’s failure. This, I believe, is the cost of constructing the Tower. It is mentioned that Rs. 402 million had been spent on the radar system, of which Rs. 323 million was drawn from the trust fund established with WMO. It was also highlighted that approximately Rs. 8 million worth of equipment had been stolen and that the Police and the Bribery and Corruption Commission were investigating the matter.

JICA support and project stagnation

Despite the project’s failure with WMO, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) entered into an agreement with GOSL on June 30, 2017 to install two Doppler Radar Systems in Puttalam and Pottuvil. JICA has pledged 2.5 billion Japanese yen (LKR 3.4 billion at the time) as a grant. It was envisaged that the project would be completed in 2021.

Once again, the perennial delays that afflict the GOSL and bureaucracy have resulted in the groundbreaking ceremony being held only in December 2024. The delay is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.

The seven-year delay between the signing of the agreement and project commencement has led to significant cost increases, forcing JICA to limit the project to installing only one Doppler Radar system in Puttalam.

Impact of the missing radar during Ditwah

As I am not a meteorologist and do not wish to make a judgment on this, I have decided to include the statement issued by JICA after the groundbreaking ceremony on December 24, 2024.

“In partnership with the Department of Meteorology (DoM), JICA is spearheading the establishment of the Doppler Weather Radar Network in the Puttalam district, which can realize accurate weather observation and weather prediction based on the collected data by the radar. This initiative is a significant step in strengthening Sri Lanka’s improving its climate resilience including not only reducing risks of floods, landslides, and drought but also agriculture and fishery“.

Based on online research, a Doppler Weather Radar system is designed to observe weather systems in real time. While the technical details are complex, the system essentially provides localized, uptotheminute information on rainfall patterns, storm movements, and approaching severe weather. Countries worldwide rely on such systems to issue timely alerts for monsoons, tropical depressions, and cyclones. It is reported that India has invested in 30 Doppler radar systems, which have helped minimize the loss of life.

Without radar, Sri Lanka must rely primarily on satellite imagery and foreign meteorological centres, which cannot capture the finescale, rapidly changing weather patterns that often cause localized disasters here.

The general consensus is that, while no single system can prevent natural disasters, an operational Doppler Radar almost certainly would have strengthened Sri Lanka’s preparedness and reduced the extent of damage and loss.

Conclusion

Sri Lanka’s inability to commission a Doppler Radar system, despite nearly two decades of attempts, represents one of the most significant governance failures in the country’s disastermanagement history.

Audit findings, parliamentary oversight proceedings, and donor records all confirm the same troubling truth: Sri Lanka has spent public money, signed international agreements, received foreign assistance, and still has no operational radar. This raises a critical question: should those responsible for this prolonged failure be held legally accountable?

Now may not be the time to determine the extent to which the current government and bureaucrats failed the people. I believe an independent commission comprising foreign experts in disaster management from India and Japan should be appointed, maybe in six months, to identify failures in managing Cyclone Ditwah.

However, those who governed the country from 2007 to 2024 should be held accountable for their failures, and legal action should be pursued against the politicians and bureaucrats responsible for disaster management for their failure to implement the 2007 project with the WMO successfully.

Sri Lanka cannot afford another 18 years of delay. The time for action, transparency, and responsibility has arrived.

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of any organization or institution with which the author is affiliated).

By Sanjeewa Jayaweera