- புகுபதிகை
- பின்னூட்டல்
The ceremonial commencement of landslide mitigation works in Kegalle District, which was scheduled to be on 29th December 2021, has been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances. The fresh date will be notified in due course.
The second day of the 11th Annual Research Symposium - 2021 on “Innovation Geared Building Resilience” organized by National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) was successfully held on 15th December 2021 at the Auditorium of State Ministry of National Security and Disaster Management (Disaster Management Division), Vidya Mawatha Colombo 07 following the successful 1st day held at the Waters Edge Hotel, Colombo on 14th December 2021.
The event was hosted as a hybrid form event with limited physical participation. Dr. (Eng.) Asiri Karunawardena, Director General of NBRO delivered the welcome address while Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe, Additional Secretary, Disaster Management Division, State Ministry of National Security and Disaster Management delivered the guest address.
The second day keynote address was delivered by Dr. Uchida Taro, Associate Professor, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, University of Tsukuba on “Climate Change and Sediment Disasters”.
The second panel discussion of the symposium on “SENDAI FRAMEWORK TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS” which was jointly organized by the Disaster Management Centre and NBRO, was moderated by the Mr. Firzan Hashim and participated by the panelists Mr. Rohan Samarakkodi, Additional Director General - DMC, Ms. Yasangi Muditha Randeni - General Manager, Group Business Development and Sustainability, Aitken Spence PLC, Dr. Buddika Hapuarachchi - Policy Specialist & Team Lead (Climate and Environment), UNDP, and Dr. Vishka Hiddelage - Freelance Consultant.
The second day of the symposium was structured with three technical sessions and was chaired by the Dr. H.M.Y.C. Mallikarachchi, Senior Lecturer, University of Moratuwa, Mr. Toru Koike, Team Leader, Project SABO, JICA, and Prof. Terrence Fernando, Director, THINKlab, University of Salford, UK respectively.
The National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) along with Hambantota District Disaster Management Unit recently, conducted a Training Program on ‘Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Resilient Construction Technologies,’ for the Technical Officers (TO) of the government institutions of the Hambantota district. The program was conducted in two stages by dividing the technical officers into two groups. The 1st program was held in the District Secretariat Office of the Hambantota district on 2nd December 2021 while 2nd program was held in the Tangalle Divisional Secretariat Office on 3rd December 2021. Nearly 130 Technical Officers participated in the training program held in collaboration with the DMC Hambantota District Unit.
Wing Commander Prabath Moligoda, Assistant Director of DDMCU of Hambantota, made a presentation on the Disaster Risk Management and Development. He highlighted the concept of disaster risk reduction and how disaster has emerged as the pending and unsold problems of development and governance. He further related link between disaster risk management and development and role of TOs in disaster risk reduction through development projects.
Mr. CS Menikpura, Senior Geologist and the NBRO District Officer to the Matara and Hambantota district delivered a presentation on the situation of Hambantota district geo-hazards. He made a particular reference to the landslide and cutting failures that occurred in several divisional secretariat divisions of the Hambantota district and other potential geo-hazards reported in the district.
Mr. Anuruddha Vijekumara, Urban Planner and Scientist of the NBRO, did a presentation on DRR techniques and guidelines that can be adopted in risk reduction activities. He explained the concept of disaster resilience and how the resilience concept can be used to reduce the vulnerability of risk elements and thereby how to reduce associated disaster risk. He further discussed the settlement planning techniques, planning guidelines and design consideration that can be used for planning of resilient human settlements.
Mr. Ranil Weerasinghe, Technical Manager of the NBRO discussed the Disaster Resilient construction techniques. He explained the features of a non-engineered house and disaster resilient house/building. He further discussed the techniques that can be used for different disasters such as landslides, flood, high wind and expansive soil areas. He explained the importance of adhering to the UDA building regulations in constructing houses/buildings. He explained how to select building materials for constructions and how the quality of building materials can impact the resiliency of a construction.
Wing Commander Prabath Moligoda concluded the session and several participants expressed their appreciation to the organizers for arranging timely important training programs.
The District Secretary of Hambantota District and the Divisional Secretary of the Tangalle Divisional Secretary Office also attended the two sessions and expressed their views on the importance of the training program conducted.
The National Building Research Organization (NBRO) has identified 84,071 buildings located in landslide susceptible areas through hazard zonation mapping, and over 15,000 houses arelocated in landslide high-risk areas that require resettlement. These families are currently inthe process of resettlement, yet a significant portion remains at high and medium risklevels.
To address this, the NBRO is planned to enhance community-based landslide riskmanagement capacity programs in partnership with local and international organizations,aiming i) to educate community about their current risk levels, including hazard,vulnerability, and capacity, ii) to provide strategies to reduce risk and enhance resilience andiii) to empower communities with knowledge and tools to make informed decisions duringdisasters.
As a pilot project, NBRO recently organized an awareness program in Hali Ela DSD, bringingtogether stakeholders from various sectors, including the Hali-Ela divisional secretariat,Disaster Management Center, Grama Niladari Officers, Save the Children organisation, andmembers of identified risk communities.
NBRO plans to extend this program across the landslides hazard prone districts initiatingfrom Subodagama, Mahawattegama, and Hapuwelakumbura communities in Hali-Ela DSD inBadulla District. Through these programs NBRO aims to build resilient communities that canindependently address landslide risks, ultimately creating a safer, more disaster-preparedsociety.