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Page added on October 4, 2014

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Thirsty Land, Hungry People

Thirsty Land, Hungry People thumbnail

Gazing out over the parched earth of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, one might think these farmlands have not seen water in years. In fact, this is not too far from the truth.

The World Food Programme (WFP) last month allocated 2.5 million dollars to assist hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans in the throes of an 11-month drought that has shown no signs of abating.

A woman stands in front of her parched paddy land in the eastern Batticaloa District, one of Sri Lanka's largest paddy-producing regions, that has been hit by the 11-month-long drought. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

A man stands in the middle of parched paddy land in the northern Kilinochchi District. Sri Lanka's staple rice harvest is expected to record a loss of 17 percent from around four million metric tonnes in 2013. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

The WFP said on Sep. 1 that 2.3 million dollars worth of supplies, including rice rations, would be provided to the drought victims. The assistance scheme will also provide 277,000 dollars in cash grants to needy families.

A woman covers her head with a cloth to escape the extreme heat in Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna District where daytime temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

A woman carries firewood in the drought-impacted Pillumalai area of the eastern Batticaloa District. Residents of this region are staring a water crisis in the face, as the main reservoir, the Vakaneri Tank, is almost completely dried up. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

The drought has so far impacted over 1.6 million people, of whom at least 190,000 are in need of urgent food assistance, while there are concerns about the food security of an additional 700,000.

A parched tank bed in the southeastern Moneragala District, where farmers say the absence of rain since late 2013 has completely destroyed their agricultural lands. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

A young girl drinks water out of a bottle in Sri Lanka's eastern Batticaloa District, where over 220,000 persons have been affected by the drought. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

Over half of those impacted by the drought are from the northern and eastern provinces of the country, two of the poorest in the nation.

A tractor moves along the side of the dried-out Elephant Pass causeway in the northern Kilinochchi District. Officials told IPS the district was in need of at least nine million rupees (69,000 dollars) per week for drought relief. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

A man uses water from an industrial-grade pump in the Karadiyanaru area of the eastern Batticaloa District. Experts warn that the rampant use of powerful water-pumps in this arid region is putting undue stress on the water table. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

While the situation calls for immediate assistance, the WFP also warned that the affected would need long-term help to adapt to the impacts of changing climate patterns.

A woman tries to salvage whatever is left of her green gram crop before the lack of water destroys the entire plot in the eastern Pillumalai area of the Batticaloa District. According to government estimates, Sri Lanka's agricultural output is likely to fall by at least 10 percent this year due to the drought. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

The World Bank estimates that the annual risk to Sri Lanka posed by climate-related disasters stands at some 380 million dollars. The worst disaster to date, a severe flood in 2010 and 2011, caused damages to the tune of 50 billion dollars.

  • Children drink water from a well in a schoolyard in the Pillumalai area of the eastern Batticaloa District, where coastal water sources are becoming more saline due to a long-running drought.

  • A tractor moves along the side of the dried-out Elephant Pass causeway in the northern Kilinochchi District. Officials told IPS the district was in need of at least nine million rupees per week for drought relief.

  • A young girl drinks water out of a bottle in Sri Lanka’s eastern Batticaloa District where over 220,000 persons have been affected by the drought.

  • A man uses water from an industrial-grade pump in the Karadiyanaru area of the eastern Batticaloa District. Experts warn that the rampant use of powerful water-pumps in this arid region is putting undue stress on the water table.

IPS



6 Comments on "Thirsty Land, Hungry People"

  1. bobinget on Sat, 4th Oct 2014 10:33 am 

    Replicate these scenes in your imagination. If CA’s Central Valley doesn’t get 150% of normal rain and snow THIS winter.
    No solar powered desalination plants are under construction.
    No aqua pipelines are planned.
    No extra irrigation storage being carved out of parched now dry lakes. (there will always be weird weather events, see Phoenix, AZ percip. number for this year)

    Just because 18th century politicians drew ‘state’ line where they are today does not exempt border states
    from extreme drought conditions.

    Drought is by far the most destructive weather event
    Mother has to offer. Drought often gets only historic press never huge headlines during the long, boring, quiet desperation of the folks unlucky enough to be
    caught in its grip.

    If California get only minor snow and rain events,
    this winter the agony will be extended another year.
    The trend is clearly for diminished precipitation.

    The world snapped into action to crush so called Islamic State. When we saw that war was winnable.
    Climate Change, at this stage like AIDS can not be cured but it could to certain degrees be ‘managed’.

    Perhaps Americans will come round to seeing Climate Change as real while California slowly dries. Perhaps not. How one of the worlds biggest economies handles this long term situation, while Red state CC deniers stand back giggling, “it’s God’s will”, is anyone’s guess.

  2. Plantagenet on Sat, 4th Oct 2014 11:46 am 

    Obama’s failure to sign the post-Kyoto UN climate change treaty at the 2009 Copenhagen meeting derailed the entire UN climate treaty process. No real progress has been made on putting the climate treaty process back on track after the disaster in Copenhagen in 2009. Its rare that you can blame one person for an entire planetary disaster, but Obama’s incompetence at Copenhagen essentially ended any chance of crafting a global treaty to require the global action needed to reduce CO2 emissions to fight climate change.

  3. ghung on Sat, 4th Oct 2014 12:00 pm 

    … “it’s God’s will””

    Yes. God is punishing the Californicators and the Sri Lankan heathens who’ve had centuries to get right with Jesus. Thank God I live in the Bible Belt where we have abundant rain and a mild climate. He rewards the righteous. The end is nigh for the unsaved masses, and the pious meek shale inherit the earth.

    (I could have a future in this. Send $5 for your Blessed Prayer Cloth to The Church Of The Sacred Bleeding Heart, located somewhere in Los Angeles, California. I’ll run 20 red lights in your honor.)

  4. Kenz300 on Sat, 4th Oct 2014 12:19 pm 

    Too many people and too few resources……

    Just maybe we should stop adding 80 million more mouths to feed, clothe, house and provide energy for every year. Endless population growth is not sustainable. Population growth just makes every problem harder to solve. We have a food crisis, a water crisis, a declining fish stocks crisis, a climate change crisis, an energy crisis, an unemployment crisis and an OVER POPULATION CRISIS. How many hungry and thirsty people will be having another child to feed and provide water for this year? The worlds poorest people are having the most children. They have not figured out the connection between their poverty and family size.

    ——————

    Obama Presses Chinese on Global Warming – NYTimes.com

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/world/asia/obama-at-un-climate-summit-calls-for-vast-international-effort.html?emc=edit_th_20140924&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=21372621

  5. Norm on Sat, 4th Oct 2014 3:30 pm 

    Hey Ghung, I am an elderly grandma who wants Jesus to take good care of my life savings. Could you receive my life savings and keep it safe for The Lotd?

  6. Makati1 on Sun, 5th Oct 2014 12:36 am 

    Thanks for the chuckles, ghung and Norm.

    I’m sure those in the Bible belt think they are immune to the changes coming. I wonder if they realize that they live on the largest fault line in the US? The one that once made the Mississippi run backwards? And, it is over due to shake again. Besides, they are among the states that get the most welfare help from the taxpayers. Wonder if He can keep those checks coming after the crash?

    What will a bottle of ‘2014’ California wine be worth in a few years when the vineyards are gone?


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