President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has directed police to forcibly remove residents who refuse to leave high-risk flood zones, citing the extreme danger posed to rescue teams by last-minute evacuation requests.
This directive was issued during a discussion held via Zoom with Governors and District Secretaries yesterday (1), marking a significant shift toward a stricter disaster management policy.
Responding to officials’ concerns that residents frequently ignore early warnings in an attempt to protect their property—only to demand emergency rescue once water levels reach critical stages—President Dissanayake emphasized that rescue operations launched late at night in hazardous conditions endanger the lives of the rescue teams.
“They give calls asking to send someone when a major situation arises. Therefore, we have told the police to remove them even by force, because the necessary legal protection for that has been established,” the President stated.
President Dissanayake highlighted that the severity of the current disaster was exacerbated by “unauthorized and informal constructions.” Consequently, the government is adopting a strict “no return” policy for those in danger zones.
The President asserted that the government must stand firm on permanently relocating citizens from identified high-risk areas, noting that previous lenient approaches allowed people to return to unsafe locations. To support this, the government aims to complete 5,000 new houses in 2025 and another 5,000 in 2026 for affected families.
Acknowledging the scarcity of state land in the Central Province, Dissanayake instructed officials to utilize land held by the Land Reform Commission (LRC), plantation companies, and the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB). He asserted that in this “special situation,” human safety takes precedence over the commercial interests of these agencies.
While weather conditions have settled in some areas, logistical challenges remain acute. Essential services are being restored to the Mahiyangana hospital and the Badulla-Mahiyangana road has reopened for essential transport, but other regions remain cut off.
In the Badulla district, areas like Keppetipola and Sirimayapura remain isolated, with access roads blocked from multiple directions. The Northern Province has also reported severe infrastructure damage, particularly in Mannar and Mullaitivu, where transportation on several main roads has been completely disrupted.
Relief operations are currently supported by approximately 800 military personnel. In the Badulla district alone, 2,377 people are housed in camps, with authorities providing 5,000 cooked meals daily for those displaced or trapped in their homes.
To ensure resources are managed effectively, the President has ordered a formal, data-driven damage assessment, noting that the World Bank has offered assistance to calculate the national cost of the disaster. Future town planning, he stressed, must follow scientific urban development plans to minimize the impact of climate variations.
