 Special attention to certain districts By Sarah Hannan The southwest monsoon is expected to bring in heavy rains starting from next week, the Department of Meteorology has indicated in their seasonal forecast. The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) over the past month has been taking the necessary measures to prepare for potential displacement events which may be a result of the impending adverse weather conditions. “Measures are in place in all the districts that have a high potential of natural disasters during the southwest monsoon. This time, we need to employ additional health and safety precautions as we are also facing a pandemic due to Covid-19”. “The teams and volunteers that will be assisting the DMC in case of a disaster situation have been made aware about ensuring the safety of the public during evacuation and relocating them to safe locations,” DMC Director General Maj. Gen. Sudantha Ranasinghe told The Morning. Several technical meetings were conducted over the past weeks with local stakeholders and also international experts regarding disaster preparedness on how hygiene and safety can be ensured for the people who will have to be relocated in case of impending disasters. The Ministry of Health, Department of Irrigation, National Building Research Organisation (NBRO), National Disaster Relief Service Centre, and Urban Development Authority (UDA), in collaboration with the DMC, will contribute towards mitigating any disaster-related events. The DMC has identified 12 rivers including the Kelani, Kalu, Gin, Nilwala, Bentara, and Kukule rivers; the Mee Oya, Maha Oya, Attanagalu Oya, and Deduru Oya; and several reservoirs under the Department of Irrigation as high-risk catchment areas when the southwest monsoon intensifies. Special attention will be given to the Puttalam, Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Galle, Matara, Kegalle, and Ratnapura Districts, which will potentially experience floods and landslides. “Each district has its own action plan and we have already identified safe locations and are taking measures to establish sufficient quarantine centres in these districts, should we need to place displaced people in quarantine during a situation of disaster. In addition to that, due to the vulnerability of Covid-19 spreading, we will not encourage the displaced families to move in with their friends and family. So if they are to be relocated this time, they will all need to go to a safe location designated by the DMC.” The safe locations will have to follow the health guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health, and the DMC is looking to provide cooked meals in most cases.