SRI LANKA COUNTRY CONTRIBUTION
to the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (HFA-2)
Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into Development Planning
1. What is a priority issue for DRR in Sri Lanka which should continue to be
addressed over upcoming years?
Mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction (DRR) into development policy, planning and
processes for all sectors at local level. Priority focus should be on water sector and
urban development sector.
2. Why has this been selected this as a priority?
Local level (urban) disaster risk reduction (and response) should be a priority, because
local level organisations are the worst affected by disasters, as well as the bestpositioned to respond. The water resources sector should receive focus, because floods
and droughts are major issues in the country.
3. What progress has been made on this priority?
The Urban Development Authority has led a number of planning projects and exercises
with local governments for integrating DRR into urban development and planning. This
is something that UN-Habitat Sri Lanka is also actively pursuing. Good progress has
been made in this, and local level projects for mainstreaming DRR in to urban planning
have resulted in national level changes to guidelines and policy for urban planning
practice. Further changes are needed, especially in terms of improved mandates for
local governments to address DRR. Connected to this is a lack of funding for local
governments to implement DRR projects.
The Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management’s Dam Safety and Water
Resources Planning Project is seeking to integrating flood risk management into dam
and water resources. This project involves damn safety (both structural and operational)
and water resources management optimization with a strong DRR component.
Similarly, the road sector under the Road Development Authority has made significant
progress integrating DRR into road project management cycles. The Department of
Coastal Conservation has been actively integrating DRR into its coastal zone resources
management plan, as well as undertaking routine projects with DRR components, such
as anti-coastal erosion projects.
The Sri Lanka Comprehensive Disaster Management Program 2014 – 2018 addresses
both local government and the water sector, and the central government is currently
looking for funding for the program. The program covers all sectors as well as the entire
DRM cycle.
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4. What was the role of HFA1 in this work?
HFA1 has been particularly helpful in terms of awareness raising, hazard identification
and risk assessment. For example, extensive coastal hazard assessments and
landslide hazard assessments have been undertaken largely due to HFA1. However,
flood and drought hazard assessments are still lacking. The HFA1 was also helpful in
providing a focus on mainstreaming through Priority for Action 4 (reducing underlying
risks).
Above all, HFA1 provided impetus for national legislation for DRR. This facilitated the
establishment of national disaster management plans, and the coordination of agencies
involved in related work.
5. What are the actions required for improved mainstreaming of DRR into
development in Sri Lanka?
5.1. Consider risk information for all development projects
All development projects need to be based on risk assessments and to do this, risk
maps need to be prepared for use by local governments when undertaking urban
development planning and development projects. Focus should be on flood and
landslide risk assessments. Risk assessments need to become a mandatory
component of all development projects (whether they are local government or
national government projects).
5.2. Coordinate water sector agencies
Greater coordination is required amongst water sector agencies, who should operate
as a team. This is particularly the case for management of reservoirs which can
contribute to long-term flood mitigation. High, intense rainfall and shifting rainfall
patterns means that water storage facilities which have traditionally only been viewed
as storage for irrigation, need to now also be utilized to control flood risk. This is a
challenge. From an irrigation perspective, reservoirs should be kept as full as
possible. From a flood risk management perspective, reservoirs should be kept
partly empty to accommodate sudden heavy rains.
5.3. Improve water management infrastructure and flood management legislation
Irrigation and reservoir infrastructure in Sri Lanka is old and requires structural
updating, as well as operational modernizing.
Flood management legislation needs to be improved. Legislation should group all
water sector agencies and clearly define their respective mandates in terms of flood
risk. For example, which agencies are responsible for riverine floods, and which for
urban floods? Which are responsible for reservoir-related floods and which for
coastal floods. Legislative specification on this topic has begun to be addressed, but
still further work is required.
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5.4. Integrate DRR into village level development
DRR needs to be incorporated into village level development programs, especially in
rural areas. This needs to become an ongoing, permanent component of village
level development and should be led by the Ministry of Economic Development.
5.5. Optimize investment for DRR
Currently there is no national level consensus on how to prioritize investments for
DRR, and how to select the most economically advantageous investment for DRR.
This needs to be developed. Such optimization needs to produce clear useable
criteria for evaluating and selecting ‘best’ investments.
6. Who should be responsible leading these priority activities?
The Ministry of Finance and Planning’s National Planning Department should be leading
this process of mainstreaming DRR into development. This is because the department
allocates funding for development, and successfully mainstreaming is tightly linked to
funding availability. For example, in the water sector, the National Planning Department
allocates funds for water sector projects, and can easily integrate DRR considerations or
criteria into checklists and project documentation for the water sector. Similarly, the
department can easily monitor to ensure that the water sector is aligned with DRR
priorities and requirements.
At the local level, provincial councils are tasked with approving local legislation and
providing funding, as well as monitoring. Provincial councils receive funds for this via
the Ministry of Finance and Planning. Therefore, the Ministry of Local Government and
Provincial Councils should also be responsible for mainstreaming DRR. Provincial
councils need to be made responsible (under the ministry) for mainstreaming DRR. For
this to happen, the national constitution will need to be amended.
7. How can better partnerships be built between stakeholders for improvement
implementation?
For the water sector, stakeholders include:
 Irrigation departments
 Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management
 Drainage boards
 Agriculture and industrial departments and other end-users
 Agrarian development authority
 Water resources boards
 Farmers and farmers associations
 National farmers groups
These stakeholders should be brought in to a single platform dedicated to the sound
management of water resources. Focus areas should include operation of water
systems, water use, flood and drought forecasting, water availability etc. Currently, Sri
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Lanka has a monsoon forum which could be expanded into a comprehensive water
resources management coordinating body.
For the urban development sector, stakeholders include:
 Provincial councils
 Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils
 Local government authorities
 National Building Research Organisation
 Urban Development Authority
 National Physical Planning Department
 Ratepayers associations
 Trade associations
 Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation
These stakeholders should be brought together at the provincial council level. Provincial
councils are extensive and operational and can be used to maintain a platform for
integrating DRR into urban development.
In this sector, cooperation between stakeholders can be improved through awareness
raising programs which firmly show the importance of local level bodies for DRR.
Similarly, training and capacity building initiatives for local governments should
accompany such awareness raising. The Disaster Management Centre can oversee
training needs for DRR at local level. In addition, planners and professional groups need
to collaborate with the Disaster Management Centre on awareness raising initiatives.
8. How should mainstreaming DRR be addressed in HFA2?
HFA2 should stipulate that all development has to consider risk assessment information.
Similarly, it should be specified that donors, lending agencies etc. consider DRR in their
loans and support programs to developing countries.
Environmental Impact Assessments are widely used, and something similar needs to be
developed and adopted for the DRR field.
Similarly, HFA2 should emphasis the need for local level responsibility (and national
level obligation to support local government in this) for DRR, and for generally improving
disaster and climate resilience at local level. Local level implements plans and
increased focus and support for local governments in this process of implementation
needs to be accorded.
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Case study
INTEGRATING DRM INTO URBAN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
IN SRI LANKA
Summary
Sri Lanka’s urbanization is a window of opportunity: the national population is still
predominantly rural and towns and cities are growing at a modest pace. If correctly managed,
urbanization in Sri Lanka can become resilient and sustainable. Towns and cities must avoid
urban development taking place in disaster prone areas, without adequate regulation and
understanding of risks, and without adequate preparedness and protection measures. To do
this, the most effective strategy is to integrate disaster risk management into the urban
development planning process itself. In Sri Lanka, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center has
been working with national agencies to do just that.
The need for resilient urban development planning in Sri Lanka
Of the 196 countries on the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects, Sri Lanka ranks 192
with only 15 per cent of its total populations living in towns and cities in 2011. It is the fourth
least urbanized country. However, this is set to change as across Sri Lanka, towns and cities
are growing at a modest and manageable pace. For the 2010 – 2015 period, the World Bank
estimates that Sri Lanka is urbanizing at an annual rate of 1.36 per cent. This is lower than
many other countries in this rapidly urbanizing region, where rates of urban growth often
outstrip government capacity (India 2.47 per cent; Bangladesh 2.96; Maldives 3.91 etc.)
With 85 per cent of the country still to move from rural to urban areas, towns and cities are
expected to grow over the upcoming decades. With a relatively low rate of urbanization, Sri
Lanka has the unique opportunity of ensuring controlled and regulated urbanization. Such
urbanization must be carefully planned, and the needs, conditions and capacities of towns and
cities across the country must be considered closely.
Already, floods, landslides and other hazards cause steady destruction and loss of life in Sri
Lankan towns and cities. Every year since 1980 disaster events in Sri Lanka kill over 1000
people, affect over 560,000 people through losses in property and livelihoods and cause over
USD54 million in damages. As the country becomes increasingly urbanized, with higher
population and asset densities in urban areas, this is only set to continue and worsen.
However, if urban planning agencies and municipal governments act now, by carefully
considering disaster risks in their municipalities and by implementing risk reduction strategies
as an inherent component of urban development, losses and damage can be avoided.
Organisations, institutions and legislations for urban development
The Urban Development Authority (UDA) was formed upon passage of the Urban Development
Authority Act in 1978. It is the principle government agency tasked with managing urban
development in Sri Lanka. Its mission is to prepare urban development plans and promote,
implement and regulate development activities in all urban centers. By the 1982 amendment
to the UDA Act it became mandatory for the UDA to prepare development plans for all lands
declared as ‘UDA Declared Areas’ – a special legal status conferred to areas ear-marked for
UDA development.
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Since its creation, UDA has developed a urban development planning process which its planning
staff follow when preparing plans. This process is broadly consistent with international
standards and norms for urban development planning, seeking to produce participatory,
science-based, sustainable and integrated plans. The process begins by collected data and
information on the planning area, and then ensuring that planning decisions are made based on
the context and conditions of the site, as well as the wishes and needs of the stakeholders in
order to achieve sustainable development goals. Currently, disaster risk and natural hazards
are not consistently considered during the planning process and this can lead to plans which
unnecessarily put urban communities and assets at risk of damage and destruction. By
integrating disaster risk management into the urban development planning process, the UDA
can better realise its mission of sustainable urban development.
Integrating DRM into urban development planning: the ADPC approach
The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) takes a unique approach to integrating disaster
risk management (DRM). DRM is an established and cyclical process which consists of
identifying and evaluation disaster risks, treating risk using specific measures, and monitoring
and evaluating risk treatment. When integrating DRM, the ADPC seeks to match DRM steps and
phases with the relevant steps or phases of the corresponding development process – in this
case UDA’s urban development planning process – to ensure systematic integration.
In 2007, ADPC began working with its Sri Lankan constituent the Disaster Management Center
(DMC), in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Through the DMC, the UDA was brought on board, with
corresponding technical teams, and it was decided that a project for integrating DRM into
urban development planning would be pursued jointly in a bid to reduce disaster losses in
towns and cities and protect long-term urban development.
The process of integrating DRM into urban development planning
Pilot testing DRM-enhanced urban development planning at local level
The ADPC with DMC and UDA decided to focus initial integrating efforts in a pilot project. For
this, Kantale was chosen. This town has a population of 5000 residents, and lies approximately
40 kilometers inland from the city of Trincomlee (10 largest in the country, population of
almost 100,000), the capital of Trincomlee District and of the Eastern Province. In 2008,
Kantale was declared a UDA Declared Area. In 2009, the pilot project began and was led by
the UDA Regional Office in Trincomalee:
 The first step was to establish a local planning committee with the Local Authority of
Kantale.
This was chaired by the mayor, and included a UDA planner, and
representatives from local sectoral agencies, as well as town engineers. ADPC and DMC
provided technical assistance for DRM.
 Information and data was gathered by the committee from both primary and secondary
sources. Both national agencies, such as the Census and Statistics Department, and
local sectoral offices contributed information. Communities were thoroughly consulted
and field trips were undertaken to verify secondary data and collect primary data.
 Communities provided the principle source of information for vulnerability and disaster
risk profiling. The main natural hazards in Kantale included flood, draught, cyclone,
and conflict with local fauna; elephants regularly stray into parts of the town. DMC
also provided hazard data including rainfall data.
 A land use map (base map) based on current uses was formulated. UDA and DMC then
digitized this map jointly, and DMC undertook a review of all hazard and risk
information. UDA and DMC jointly mapped the risk information for all hazards onto the
base map. Communities were requested to validate the final risk map for Kantale
based on their memory and understanding of natural hazards in the town.
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The local planning committee produced a report detailing physical, social, economy
and environmental aspects, and including the maps developed. The report also
included a zoning map developed by UDA which indicated areas of higher and lower risk
and specified the permissible uses and prohibited uses for each zone given this risk.
Based on permissible and prohibited uses, a draft development plan was developed by
UDA. This plan sought to identify areas for future development and steer development
into them, and avoid unplanned settlements from occurring in the higher risk areas
identified.
The development plan was submitted to the local planning committee for comments
and observations. Stakeholders were consulted. The development plan was then
submitted to the planning committee of the head office of UDA in Colombo for UDA
approval.
Upon approval by UDA head office, the development plan for Kantale was translated
into Sinhala and Tamil (from English) and gazetted in 2012, making the plan a legally
binding document for development in Kantale.
Throughout this process, the team was beset by a number of challenges. These included issues
of limited human capacity and resources and limited access to data and information. In
particular, there was a chronic lack of local recorded disaster risk information. The team
overcome this by deploying extensive consultations with local communities. Similarly,
information exchange was restricted at national government level due fee charging. Improved,
free exchange of data at national level and better local data records would drastically help in
the preparation of future plans.
Taking it to the top: bringing DRM into national guidelines for urban development
The UDA maintains internal Urban Development Planning Guidelines as an advisory document
for planners when preparing urban development plans. These Guidelines are used by planners
as a reference in their planning work and as such have considerable influence in shaping
national planning practice. Following successful work in Kantale, UDA worked with DMC and
ADPC to integrate DRM into the Guidelines. The process for this included:
 A team lead by DMC identified entry points in the Guidelines where DRM could be
integrated. This involved working through the normative process for plan preparation
and identifying points where key steps for DRM could be ideally undertaken.
 An initial revision to the Guidelines was undertaken based on the proposed entry
points.
 Local officers from Kantale who were involved in the Kantale urban development
planning process reviewed the revised Guidelines and made suggestions on technical
and operational aspects.
 The Guidelines were revised by UDA and finalized and submitted to the UDA national
planning committee for approval in 2013.
Giving planners the skills they need
Following the approval of the Guidelines, UDA and DMC, with technical planning from ADPC,
began a series of workshops and trainings for improved awareness and capacity for handling
DRM as part of the urban development planning process. This included both awareness raising
workshops, as well as workshops introducing planners to the revised Guidelines and explaining
the implications for their practice. Throughout these initial workshops UDA provided the
overall training sessions, and DMC contributed information and gave sessions on undertaking
risk assessments and dealing with risk. Further and more extensive trainings are planned for
2013 – 2014.
In this way, the three components explained above build off and re-enforce each other.
Housing and urban development in Sri Lanka needs to be made more resilient to both disasters
and climate change. By pilot testing the mainstreaming of DRM into urban development
planning for the small town of Kantale, the UDA with DMC and ADPC were able to gather
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experience and practical knowledge of this process, and the challenges which it faces on
through ground. Building off this experience, the UDA revised its national level planning
guidelines to reflect lessons learned in Kantale and the agency’s ongoing commitment to
resilient urban development. With the revision of the Guidelines, new expectations are placed
on urban planners and these must be met through practical trainings and awareness raising. In
this way, with Sri Lanka’s ongoing urbanization, the country’s towns and cities can become
increasingly resilient.
Prepared by ADPC
For further information please contact:
ADPC Bangkok
DMC Sri Lanka
[Address]
[Address]
8
UDA Sri Lanka
[Address]