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Flooded and
forgotten By Thiruni
Kelegama and Vidushi Seneviratne The heavy rains
of the past week that lashed Colombo have not only played havoc
"I have
lived here for 20 years," says S. Theresa Rodrigo, "and
each year, it's the same. As soon as it rains, the Kelani River
rises and the water starts to come into our houses. Our toilet has
broken now. We have no solution - each time it rains, we are scared
that it will flood and that we will have to leave our houses and
stay elsewhere until the water subsides." Her house was
sodden and the ground moved beneath our feet as we spoke. "That
is because I have filled it with rags. We have done this continuously
for a number of years, so that when the water rises, it will be
absorbed by the cloth," she continues tearfully. "My husband
works on the river banks, mining sand. He is a daily paid labourer
and we have no money to build another house. All our life savings
are invested in this place." "Nothing
has been done and this time will be the same. As soon as the rain
stops, we are forgotten." "Look
at our neighbours," Theresa continued pointing to another house
near by. "Their house is completely submerged, so they have
left the house and are staying at their mother's house. They have
a one-year-old baby, and they were scared that the child might get
ill, so they left." Boxes of clothes
and piles of pots and pans are all that is left of the family who
had lived in the now submerged house. K. K. Chandrasena, of Jakotuwatte
has the same story to tell but in his case, his house is completely
under water. "We moved
out a couple of days ago. The water has gone down now, but it was
bad during the last few days." His neighbour,
D. D. Padmawathi, echoed his words. According to her, they both
had built their houses on plots of land given by the state. The
area being extremely marshy, they themselves had filled the land.
"I used
all the money I got as compensation after working in Kuwait. That
is how I built the house that we are living in at present. Almost
three lakhs were spent on this ground. After doing all of this,
they are now asking us to leave this place and go even closer to
the river. How are we going to rebuild our houses? We don't have
a cent," she said. These two residents
seem to be facing an additional problem. They have been asked to
move from their present homes by the authorities without an explanation. Dire straits.
That is what D. Pathmasiri, who has lived in this area all his life,
is facing as most of his house is under water. Wading through the
water, he came out to talk to us with his two-year-old daughter.
"There are no drains in this area. So when it rains and the
river overflows, the houses get flooded. The water has gone down
now but it was much worse." "Right
now, this is the way we come to our house," says his wife,
wading more than knee deep in water. "It is tolerable now,"
she explains. "But in about two days, it will be terrible.
The water will stagnate and the stench will be unbearable. Mosquitoes
will start to breed." The problems
are perennial, but over the years, the authorities have done little. "This
is not flood water, this is a drainage problem," says the Deputy
Director of the Irrigation Department, Mr. B. A. P. Samarasekara.
"We call this water 'storm water' and what you tend to see
around Colombo when it rains, is not flood water." "You will
never see flood water in Colombo, as it is too well protected!"
he stated. "No, we cannot do anything about this situation,
it is not our responsibility." Deputy General Manager of Canal
Development and Maintenance of the Land Reclamation and Development
Corporation, Mr. Valence Gunaratne held the same view. "We
manage the main Colombo canal system, and this area does not come
under us. We do agree that there is a drainage problem but we cannot
do anything about it," he said. Ironically,
an official at the National Water Supply and Drainage Board stated
that though they go as the National Water Supply and Drainage, "we
do not do drainage. We handle sewerage." However, some
authorities were aware of the problem. Mr. P. Sugathadasa, Secretary
of the Kolonnawa Urban Council admitted that these areas have severe
drainage problems. "Yes, when it rains, most of these houses
tend to get flooded. This is because the canals of the area are
blocked. Cleaning them falls under the responsibility of the Low
Lands Development Corporation." But when contacted,
the Assistant General Manager for Canal Maintenance at the Low Lands
Development Corporation, Mr. K. G. M. Ranaweera stated that the
maintenance of smaller canals, was not their responsibility. "The maintenance
of the main canals comes under us. But the upkeep of the smaller
ones needs to be done by the individual Urban Councils." Another issue
that was raised by both the Kolonnawa Urban Council and the Low
Lands Development Corporation was the lack of funds. "We are
given a certain amount of money by the Treasury for all our services
and we have to manage everything with that. Once the salaries are
paid and the essentials are met, there is hardly anything left,
so even if we wanted to do anything extra, it isn't possible,"
added Mr. Ranaweera. So what do
the residents of these areas do when the flood waters rise? "No one comes to even look at the state we live in. We are told that all our problems will be solved by all sorts of people, but nothing happens. No one cares," says Kumara, another resident of the same area. "We wade through the water everyday and face numerous illnesses. We cannot go on living like this." That is the pity of this situation. What will it take for the authorities to take note of their plight? |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
with
their lives, but are also ruining their houses as the flood waters
surge in. 
