Sri Lanka should move beyond reactive crisis management and build anticipatory crisis governance mechanisms to withstand climate shocks including El Niño, the Caucus on Climate of the Parliament of Sri Lanka has said.
The caucus met recently in Parliament under the joint chairmanship of Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and MP Prof. L.M. Abeywickrema, according to a statement from the Department of Communication of Parliament reported by Ada Derana. Discussions covered climate change, El Niño conditions, agriculture, water management, wildlife conservation, human-elephant conflict, disaster management and environmental management.
Odisha evacuation model cited
The main expert presentation was delivered by Prof. Charitha Pattiarachchi, Winthrop Professor of coastal oceanography at the University of Western Australia, who stressed early preparedness, science-based policymaking and stronger disaster management mechanisms.
Members also examined the disaster management model of the Indian state of Odisha, noting that during a cyclone in 2019 the state evacuated approximately one million people to safe locations within 24 hours.
Two interim reports tabled
Prof. Sampath Seneviratne, Chairman of the Independent Expert Advisory Group on El Niño Resilience, presented an interim report analysing the effects of climate change on agriculture, biodiversity, water security and the rural economy. It proposed a Strategic Climate Resilience Framework grounded in scientific evidence.
A second interim report, from Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Human-Elephant Conflict, warned that climate conditions could intensify the conflict. It called for short- and long-term measures including community-based electric fences, seasonal paddy-field fencing, wildlife habitat management and water management.
On wildlife conservation, the caucus drew attention to the shortage of veterinary officers, the need to strengthen wildlife management, and environmental damage caused by human activity, plastics and waste in and around national parks. Proposals were put forward to limit environmental impacts in sensitive sacred areas, introduce differential pricing for the tourism sector, and develop national park infrastructure.
The meeting closed by emphasising stronger science-based policies, institutional coordination and early preparedness.
The discussion lands as prevailing dry weather affects more than 68,000 people across four districts and national reservoir storage has fallen to 37% of capacity.
