by Dasun Edirisinghe
The Disaster Management Ministry has planned to develop 15 towns as disaster free cities under the first stage of the project to make Sri Lanka a disaster preapred country.
Minister of Disaster Management Mahinda Amaraweera told The Island that of the 15 towns, three would be developed first as models.The three towns are Mannar, Eravur and Balangoda, he said.
The Minister said that the programme would be implemented in association with the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils.
"We expect to re-design cities to prevent floods, landslides and minimize the damages caused by natural disasters such as tsunami and cyclones," he said.
Amaraweera said that an emergency system for dousing spreading fires would also be set up.
A recent survey conducted by the ministry revealed that the water ways blocked by waste matter in several towns had led to the recent floods in towns. Such blocked drains and other water ways would be cleared and specic places for dumping garbage will be established under the programme.
He said that the cause for floods in the Colombo city even after a few showers was the result of the drainage system being blockedby garbage. To renovate the system Rs. 8000 million had been allocated.
He said that the 15 towns earmarked to be developed at the initial stage were Batticaloa, Akkaraipattu, Kalmunai, Puttalam, Gampola, Bandarawela, Kuliyapitiya, Kalutara, Colombo, Hikkaduwa, Weligama and Tangalle.
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