Impacts of Flood and Drought Hazards on the Economy of the Northern Region of Sri Lanka

Abstract

During the last thirty years of the internal war, economic sector of the Northern region of Sri Lanka suffered a lot. Not only war, but natural disasters also caused massive destruction in the economic sector of the northern region. Main objective of this paper is to identify the impacts of drought and flood in the economy of the northern region of Sri Lanka. Primary and secondary data were used to conduct this study. Primary data were collected using Interviews and direct observations. Several department sources such Agriculture department and agrarian department were used as secondary sources. Drought and flood events were identified using Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) method. Then details regarding economic losses due to drought and flood data were collected through primary and secondary data. Collected data were analyzed and mapped using separate sheet and GIS. Most of the economic losses were recorded in the low lying areas of the Northern region of Sri Lanka due to flood.  Highest amount of housing damages and commercial sector losses were caused by the flood, during the North East Monsoon Season (NEMS) and Second Inter Monsoon Season (SIMS). Highest extent of agriculture losses were recorded in Mullaitivu and the lowest in Mannar districts.  Highest extent of paddy and cash crop damaged during the study period were recorded in Mullaitivu, subsidiary crops damaged in Vavuniya and vegetable crops damaged in Jaffna district.  Compare to drought flood caused more economic losses in the study area and the NEMS has maximum extent of the agriculture damages. New strategies have to be adopted in the study area to avoid the much impact due to drought and flood in the study area.

Keywords: Drought, Flood, Crops, Impacts, Districts