Living with Vulnerability A Study of Physical, Economic, and Social Vulnerability of the 2007 Landslide Survivors in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Reducing vulnerability and risk in landslide-prone regions remains a major concern in many areas of Sri Lanka’s hill country for two primary reasons. On the one hand, geographical factors naturally limit the mitigation and recovery strategies and activities in these areas. The other main factor centers around theoretical questions such as where and when the landslides occur, the extent of the landslides, how fast and far they move, which areas are affected, the types of damage, and the frequency of landslides in a particular area. Vulnerability can be assessed in terms of physical, economic, and social perspectives. This study was based on the information collected from the four villages established by the government in Hanguranketha and Walapone Divisional Secretariats in Nuwara Eliya District to resettle the survivors of the 2007 landslides. The field study focused on the physical vulnerability and its impact on the survivors’ economic and social vulnerability. The rural population, particularly in developing countries like Sri Lanka, is reluctant or less likely to leave their homes or migrate to a new area, even after falling victim to natural disasters, mainly due to social and cultural vulnerability. The majority of the respondents chose to remain in the newly-built villages that are still vulnerable to severe local landslides. Many of the houses use poor-quality materials that are also vulnerable to landslides and other local-level disasters such as strong winds. To assess the economic and social vulnerability, the team interviewed four groups of survivors from the villages and some officials in divisional secretariats. Most of the survivors lost their cultivated land to the disaster and are now struggling to survive and feed their families. The findings show that all of these villagers are still living with high physical, economic, and social vulnerability, all of which are interrelated. The physical nature of the small plots of land provided to residents is not only too small to cultivate but difficult to cultivate, resulting in economic vulnerability. Advanced scientific studies are recommended in order to formulate appropriate mitigation and recovery strategies and measures.