In central Sri Lanka, the Kithulbadde village residents claim that they have been left in the lurch following the fatal cyclone that occurred last week, and many are languishing in relief centres as they fear going back home due to damaged infrastructure.
The storm caused 479 deaths and was accompanied by severe winds and the largest floods in a decade, and affected 1.2 million individuals. Government data has another 350 of them missing.
As the cyclone ripped huge holes in the ground and dysfunctional doors in houses, a large number of individuals in aid centres are still remaining.
“People are afraid to go home, they do not feel safe,” said Madullegedera Chandralatha, a woman of 57 years, who lives in the picturesque village of Kithulbadde that is surrounded by tea plantations in the middle of the hills.
The government has estimated that an area of 44,500 houses is partially damaged, and 1,289 houses in the country have been completely destroyed by Cyclone Ditwah, which is gathering information to give permanent solutions to the population residing in the high-risk zones.
Residents Say: Impossible Without Aid To Relocate
The home of Prasanna Shantha Kumara is one of them, and the living room is covered with deep gashes, and the walls are broken at various points.
The 48-year-old now commutes to the relief centre and his home daily, where he has moved with his wife and his three children, trying to salvage his capsicum crop, which was flattened by floods and is gradually dying.
Others make a similar day-to-day commute daily to work on their tea plots and vegetable gardens of chillies and cabbage, or look after their pets, and then go back to the relief centres at night.
“I have lost my house, and lost my crop…What shall we do? How can we live like this? We require assistance,” Reuters.
On Thursday, Dr. Gamini Jayatissa of the government-established National Building Research Organisation advised the residents to evacuate the areas where there are fissures in the ground, stating that the fresh rains might cause landslides.
Inhabitants of Kithulbadde – the majority of whom are day labourers, plucking tea, cultivating vegetables, and raising goats – rejected on their part the idea of emigration.
“Where are we going to go? We have hills around…We are not financially stable to abandon all and start life at another place alone,” said Vasanthi Kumari, 54.
