Sri Lanka: Drought management - A growing need

Recalling the impact of the 2001 drought, far greater than that of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the The Daily News questions Sri Lanka's ability to cope with drought while the country has no national or regional drought mitigation plan. The author suggests avoiding the fullest effects of drought by reviving some of the 15,000 ancient small tanks, as their rehabilitation could mitigate the effects of average droughts.

"For severe droughts, we would need a mitigation plan. This presupposes the existence of a national drought risk map, forecasting and early warning systems and monitoring systems. It would be the data from these that would enable an effective response plan," the report continues.