Rising temperatures
View(s):Temperatures are rising … and I’m not just referring to that of Kussi Amma Sera and her buddies.
For the record, the trio was seated under the margosa tree drinking water after a to-and-fro argument with the mobile vegetable vendor over rising prices of vegetables and other food.
“Mey davas hari rasneine (It’s very hot these days),” exclaimed Kussi Amma Sera. “Watura godak bonna kiyala saha sevane inna kiyala apita avavada karala thiyenva (We have been warned to drink a lot of water and stay in the shade),” added Serapina. “Ape gamvala prashna godak, mokada ling wala wathura nehe. Elavalu wagawa kadan wetila (We are having major problems in our villages as the wells have run dry and vegetable production has been badly affected),” noted Mabel Rasthiyadu.
Sri Lanka is experiencing extreme heat conditions these days, a year after it suffered the worst drought in 40 years.
The Department of Meteorology on Thursday warned that the heat index, which measures the temperature on the human body, was expected to rise on Friday to ‘Extreme Caution’ level (32°C – 41°C) in some places in North-Western and Western Provinces and Mannar, Ratnapura, Galle and Matara districts.
The department urged the public to be aware of possible heat cramps and heat exhaustion as continued activity could result in heat-stroke.
Just as the trio were complaining about the heat and gulping down sips of water, the phone rang. It was ‘Karapincha’ Perera, the tea-kade gossip on the line.
“I say … this heat is terrible,” he said, his voice reflecting tiredness, adding: “When will the rains come?”
“That won’t happen for a couple of weeks,” I said. “I hear the weather department is warning of worse days to come,” he said, noting that this spell of hot weather will affect rice and vegetable prices.
For the record, it’s that time of the year when temperatures are high, water resources in catchment areas run dry and generating hydro energy becomes an issue. The next monsoon season is in June-July and until then it would be a struggle between man, nature and wildlife in sharing meagre water resources.
‘Karapincha’ said that television and print media news was full of stories of the suffering of people without access to clean drinking water, for that matter any water source. With this comes serious health issues, he added.
According to official estimates, Sri Lanka receives on average some 2000 mm of rain annually, amounting to about 130 billion cubic metres of water.
To the business and economic sectors, the shortage of water impacts on every sphere of industrial production and comes on top of two significant negatives to Sri Lanka’s economy – the Easter Sunday bombings in April 2019 and the current impact of the coronavirus on tourism and other sectors.
The current water crisis also impacts on generation of hydropower which gets badly affected as water levels in catchment areas reduce, forcing the government to resort to more thermal power and purchasing power from small producers, while urging businesses to use their self-generating energy units.
According to official data, petroleum – imported as crude oil and finished products – provides the highest share (43 per cent in 2017) of energy to the national economy, followed by biomass (37 per cent), coal (11 per cent), hydro (6 per cent) and new renewable energy (3 per cent). Once the main energy source in the country, hydropower generation is diminishing largely due to climate change which has caused havoc to the traditional monsoon seasons in which extreme rain (heavy rain in short spells rather than continuous rain over several days) and extreme heat are the order of the day.
“Why can’t the private sector get involved in channelling their social responsibility projects towards sustainable programmes that lead to better water retention during the monsoon season like rainwater harvesting?” asked ‘Karapincha’. “That’s an excellent idea,” I said.
Rainwater harvesting comes to one’s mind in which the private sector amidst the dozens of CSR projects could engage in, for example, constructing a rainwater collection tank in each household in the villages spread across the country. Or spend money on cleaning tanks and wewas to expand water retention.
In recent times, the sustainability discussion in the corporate sector has advanced to many companies driving their development agenda with sustainable measures on water use and energy. Quite a few companies now have rooftop solar power panels that meet much of their energy needs while some innovative companies have transformed their factories to green units with natural light replacing artificial light and green spaces inside making it a pleasant place to work.
According to CSR Lanka, a private sector-led initiative to pilot sustainable CSR in Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan companies spend over Rs. 4 billion annually on CSR through various avenues. However, it has pointed out that less attention is paid to the aspect of sustainability in most CSR projects.
This last point is the key to marshalling all resources towards sustainability avenues and in today’s discussion, channelling these resources to water retention and energy saving projects with a long-term focus in mind.
According to the managing director of a large business group, they believe the future lies in sustainable production and they drive a comprehensive sustainability agenda across all sectors in the group. “We believe we have an obligation to leave this planet with more sustainable resources for the generations to come,” he says.
In water usage, many companies – particularly in the tourism sector – are reusing water for gardens and washroom purposes while in some small group discussions or corporate events, hotel stewards pour water into glasses instead of having bottles of water at the table which leads to waste when a bottle is left half full. Hotels are also increasingly using glass bottles instead of plastic.
CSR Lanka also says that there are no clear mechanisms to determine the impact of CSR projects and their continuity in Sri Lanka. In this context this is an opportunity to match CSR projects by private companies with the development work of NGOs and INGOs (international NGOs), since often there is duplication of work in village communities. Working together for a common cause would be the ideal situation which then helps spread out financial resources and also ensures continuity and sustainable development.
Water and energy are areas in which the private sector, community-based organisations (CBOs) and village communities can work together towards retaining rainwater and developing their own sources of energy from wind power, solar power and small hydropower units. This is the conversation that should take place towards the goal of sustainable CSR projects.
As I wind up, something is amiss today – where is my second cup of tea? There is silence under the margosa tree. I walk into an empty kitchen and then find Kussi Amma Sera snoring away in her room with the morning’s heat taking its toll.