Drought: A result of wide ranging

environmental, Socio-economic and political

factors
"When the well is dry we know the real worth of water"
Benamin !ranklin, "#$%

By Ranjit Mulleriyawa-August 5, 2014, 9:06 pm
Drought is not an unusual event for inhabitants of
Sri Lankas dry zone !t is a reality whi"h they have had to "ontend with
sin"e ti#e i##e#orial !t is the ne"essity of tiding over the rain-less $dry%
&eriod e'tending fro# (&ril to Se&te#ber) whi"h resulted in the
"onstru"tion of an ingenious syste# of village tanks $ reservoirs% by our
an"estors) to "olle"t and &reserve the &re"ious rainfall of four #onths
$*"tober-+anuary% during the ,orth--ast #onsoon season .hat is uni/ue
this year is the degree of severity of the drought o""urring as early as +uly
0li#ate and Rainfall
!t is often assu#ed that "li#ate "hange $due to global war#ing% is the root
"ause of drought 1owever) as Dr Dan Seevaratna#) a highly re&uted 2ea
3lanter has "orre"tly said 40li#ate "hange o""urs slowly over a &eriod of
about 566 years 2hat is not the issue *ur &roble# is "li#ate variability
.e get 7)666 ##s rain during the year $in the 1atton area% Last year one
of our estates got 7)666 ##s in one #onth .e #ust be &re&ared to "o&e
with su"h events4
2his is true of #any areas in the ,orth 0entral 3rovin"e $(nuradha&ura
and 3olonnaruwa distri"ts% affe"ted by the "urrent drought 2hese areas
re"eived li#ited rainfall during ,ove#ber and De"e#ber last year $#onths
e'&erien"ing heaviest rainfall nor#ally%) and unusually heavy rainfall in
8ebruary this year resulting in s&illing of several reservoirs (s su"h) how
do we a""ount for the "urrent drought of un&re"edented severity9 2he
answer see#s to lie elsewhere- in a nu#ber of #an #ade fa"tors
Deforestation of "at"h#ent areas
Maintaining a forest "over in the "at"h#ent areas of village tanks was an
absolute ne"essity to &revent soil erosion and siltation of these reservoirs
*ur an"estors re"ognized this fa"t and stri"tly enfor"ed it through well
fun"tioning rural institutions 0entralization of &ower at the ,ational level
has resulted in the "olla&se of #any of these vital institutions that a"ted as
"ustodians of village tanks and their irrigation syste#s
(n even #ore insidious feature in re"ent years has been the inroads #ade
by &oliti"ally &owerful elites building hotels and guest houses within the
"at"h#ent areas of several tanks 2hese a"tivities have "o#&ounded the
issue of soil erosion and siltation of reservoirs resulting in lowering their
water storage "a&a"ity
.ater "olle"ted in dry zone tanks also &layed a valuable role in ground
water re"harge Less water "olle"ted in tanks) resulted in de&leted ground
water reserves
*ver e'&loitation of ground water resour"es
4:roundwater is one of the #ost valuable natural resour"es &ossessed by a
nation !t is however) still insuffi"iently understood) widely undervalued)
irrationally e'&loited and inade/uately &rote"ted !t is feared that s"ientifi"
ignoran"e #ay lead to its over e'&loitation4
2he above warning was issued seven years ago by Dr 0R 3anabokke) one
of this "ountrys #ost res&e"ted s"ientists) and a renowned e'&ert on
ground water behaviour in the dry zone 1is &redi"tion see#s to have now
be"o#e a reality (nother s"ientist atta"hed to the Dry ;one (gri"ultural
Resear"h Station in Mahaillu&&alla#a $Dr3B Dhar#asena%) "autioned the
ha&hazard "onstru"tion of agro-wells in the (nuradha&ura area 1e &ointed
out that the e"ologi"ally &er#issible li#it in this area was around 5<)666
agro-wells 2his was fifteen years ago) and des&ite his warning) agro-well
"onstru"tion in (nuradha&ura area $one of the worst areas to be affe"ted
by the "urrent drought% has #ushroo#ed and far e'"eeded the
e"ologi"ally &er#issible li#it Little wonder that #ost of the wells &roviding
drinking water should dry out "o#&letely this year even in the #onth of
+uly- with two #ore dry #onths to follow=
.hen &oli"y #akers "hoose to ignore its s"ientifi" "o##unity) the &eo&le
suffer) and it is the &oor who suffer #ost
(t &resent there is no state agen"y> de&art#ent entrusted with the s&e"ifi"
res&onsibility of ensuring sustainable #anage#ent of ground water in the
"ountry 2his void needs to be re"tified soon
,ew 0ro&s
2raditionally) dry zone far#ers would grow drought resistant "ro&s like
Sess-a#u# $2ala%) Bla"k gra# and :reen gra# under rainfed "onditions
during the yala season Re"ently) they have been en"ouraged to grow
high value "ash "ro&s like 1ybrid 0orn and ?egetables under lift irrigation
2his &ra"ti"e has further in"reased the de#and on ground water through
(gro-wells
Mis&la"ed 3riorities
:overn#ents &reo""u&ation with the "onstru"tion of highways) (ir 3orts)
3orts) @rban beautifi"ation and new #ega irrigation &roje"ts like @#a *ya
and Moragahakanda) has resulted in the negle"t and ineffe"tive
#aintenan"e of e'isting irrigation works thereby resulting in loss of #u"h
&re"ious water
3oliti"s
8ailure to rigidly enfor"e laws &ertaining to environ#ental "onservation has
resulted in #any &oliti"ally &owerful individuals brazenly flaunting the law
resulting in illi"it logging) illi"it sand #ining) en"roa"hing into national
&arks ) nature reserves and "at"h#ent areas of dry zone tanks ( vibrant
#edia has bravely s&otlighted these issues) but their valiant efforts see#
to have fallen on deaf ears
.hen hu#an greed and "allousness violates natures laws) nature strikes
ba"k with a vengean"e - earth sli&s and land slides in the wet zone and
drought in the dry zone
2he writer is a far#er and rural develo&#ent a"tivist 1e #ay be
"onta"ted at rangoviya765ABg#ail"o#
Posted by Thavam