Flood hazard in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka: Individual attitudes vs collective action |
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| Authors: | Robert R Churchill Deborah M Hutchinson |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Geography, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | In Ratnapura monsoonal flooding is a chronic problem of which the residents are acutely aware. Responses to structured interviews indicated that a wide range of actions are employed to reduce flood impact, although these actions are not perceived as specific adjustments to flooding. The only widely acknowledged means of mitigating the flood threat is government action. Dependency on government action reflects the government's role in dispensing aid to flood victims. While relief programmes do reduce personal, short-term losses, they simultaneously encourage resettlement in high-risk areas. In seeking a viable, long-term management policy, the Sri Lankan government recently adopted a plan to move the municipality of Ratnapura to invulnerable high ground. In making the decision to relocate, however, the attitudes of the residents were not evaluated, and government officials seemed unconcerned that residents viewed relocation as an unacceptable solution to the problem. Although individual attitudes concerning residential satisfaction in the context of the flood hazard varied with factors such as income, length of residency and land tenure, an overwhelming number of residents adamantly maintained that they would not move to the new town. |
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