Disaster Risk Reduction and Awareness: A Case Study on Landslide Risk Reduction in Kegalle District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Globally, 66 million people live in high-risk landslide areas and around 300 million people are exposed to landslides. Sri Lanka belongs to a landslide-prone geographic setting area in the Asian continent. Governments spend millions annually on disaster risk reduction, however, community awareness and involvement on this is questioned by many researchers. Thus, recognizing the landslide-prone communities and investigating their knowledge of this hazard are important in mitigating its impacts. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the community perception of landslide risk reduction strategies in the study area. A community survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted with a total sample size of 100 families. The study areas included the heavily affected five landslide-prone Divisional Secretariat Divisions (DSD) (Dehiowita, Rambukkana, Yatiyanthota, Kegalle and Warakapola) of Kegalle in 2021. The community responses to disaster awareness were analysed using basic statistics. The results revealed that the majority (88%) of participants had identified the landslides as a hazard in their areas and some participants had taken mitigation measures to reduce the impacts. Such measures were stacking sandbags against cuts, growing trees or bushes in slopes and preparing drainage ways to drain off rainwater in vulnerable sloppy areas. The month of May is the highest voted among the participants (27%) for landslide occurrence in these areas and Disaster Management Coordination Unit reports were also compatible with these results. According to the responses, disaster alert communication had several methods the most used was mass media (50%) followed by social media (41%) and government website users. Government website users accounted for up to 2% only. Interestingly, alternative ways of disaster communication were evident. Around 7% of the participants had been informed about landslides by Grama Niladhari (GN) via text messages or separate alarm systems. Disaster reporting and Knowledge on crisis management indicated that 79% of participants had knowledge of the emergency management system and 59%of participants had knowledge about emergency evacuation routes in the area. Disaster reporting was mainly done through the GN of the area (83%). It can be concluded that the Mass media and Social media play a crucial role in landslide disaster risk reduction by facilitating communication, information dissemination, and community engagement. However, as there are challenges such as misinformation, involvement in government authorities in facilitating the accurate information is vital.

Keywords: Landslides, Community awareness, Disaster risk reduction