The Parliamentary Select Committee examining Sri Lanka’s lack of preparedness for Cyclone Ditwah has decided to summon representatives of Pradeshiya Sabhas and Municipal Councils, opening a line of inquiry into how local authorities coordinated their response to the disaster, the Daily Mirror reported on Friday.
The committee will examine in particular the part local bodies played in official communication and coordination while the disaster was unfolding.
What the latest sitting covered
At a recent sitting in Parliament chaired by Health and Mass Media Minister Dr Nalinda Jayatissa, the committee took information from members of the National Council for Disaster Management and from the District Secretaries of Kandy and Matale.
The questioning centred on early warning systems, communication between government institutions, and emergency response procedures during the heavy rainfall, landslides and floods that hit the two districts between 23 and 27 November 2025.
Members also discussed the need for formal written procedures for emergency situations, regular preparedness drills, and further improvement of early warning systems.
A new line of inquiry as the deadline arrives
The timing is the notable part, and the Daily Mirror does not draw attention to it. Parliament in June extended the committee’s reporting deadline to 19 September — Saturday — after the original mandate set on 21 January would have required a report by 19 June. Announcing on 18 September that an entirely new category of witnesses is still to be called indicates the inquiry is not close to reporting.
The Daily Mirror does not say whether the deadline has been extended again, and this article does not assume it has.
The committee was established on 21 January on a motion moved by opposition members, which described Ditwah as “the worst tragedy in the history of Sri Lanka.” The chair and members were appointed by the Speaker under Standing Order 101.
The inquiry so far
This is at least the third publicly reported strand of evidence. The committee earlier questioned senior police officers from affected districts and former MP Nimal Piyatissa, and had previously taken evidence from the Meteorology Department’s Director General.
Cyclone Ditwah affected an estimated 2.2 million people across all 25 districts, leaving more than 640 dead and 173 missing as of January. It runs alongside a separate accountability track, a Court of Appeal writ filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice challenging the wider disaster-preparedness regime.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror does not give the date of the sitting it describes, say how many local authorities will be summoned or which ones, or state when they are to appear. It does not explain why Kandy and Matale in particular are the focus of this stage when the cyclone affected all 25 districts, what the two District Secretaries told the committee, or whether the National Council for Disaster Management accepted any failure in the early warning chain.
No other verified newsroom had filed on this sitting at the time of writing, and neither the committee nor Parliament’s Department of Communication has published the evidence taken.
