Effects of the tsunami on waste management in Sri Lanka

Pilapitiya, Sumith; Vidanaarachchi, Chandana K.; Yuen, Sts

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2005.10.004

Cited by 33 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Floods can also have an impact on waste management systems [11] leading to leaching of toxins into groundwater. For this reason the management of waste can be seen as one of the low regret options for reducing flood risk; contributing as it does to quality of life, health and development generally, while also lowering the impact of disasters [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of solid waste management as a response to urban flood risk in developing countries, a case study analysis

Lamond

Bhattacharya

Bloch³

2012

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of solid waste management as a response to urban flood risk in developing countries, a case study analysis

Lamond

Bhattacharya

Bloch³

2012

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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“…The relative lack of research on post‐disaster rubble clearance, as compared with other areas of disaster recovery, is surprising since the management of disaster‐produced waste has been recognized as a major challenge in a variety of geographic contexts (Baycan and Peterson, ; Pilapitiya et al, ; Karunasena et al ., ). It is also surprising given the scale of the problem represented by disaster‐produced waste.…”

Section: Post‐disaster Rubble Clearance: Context and Haitian Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

When Diverse Norms Meet Weak Plans: The Organizational Dynamics of Urban Rubble Clearance in Post‐Earthquake Haiti

Hooper¹

2018

Int J Urban Regional Res

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In the face of rapid global urbanization, cities are increasingly at risk from major disasters. While considerable attention has been given to other aspects of urban post‐disaster recovery, less has been dedicated to rubble clearance. This article examines the dynamics of rubble clearance through a study of how the diverse organizations responding to the 2010 Haiti earthquake addressed this issue in Port‐au‐Prince. It draws on interviews with 52 organizations spanning the range of organizational types engaged in recovery efforts. Building on an evaluation of rubble clearance plans developed for other seismically at‐risk cities, the results indicate that organizations in Port‐au‐Prince lacked a shared understanding of who should coordinate, and engage in, this vital activity. The diverse organizations involved in recovery brought widely diverging norms concerning rubble clearance to a context with weak plans in place for this task. The outcome was uncoordinated action and slow progress. The article draws on the literature on interorganizational norms to contextualize its findings from Port‐au‐Prince. It concludes by arguing for efforts to generate new, shared norms concerning who should lead urban rubble clearance and, in particular, for greater support for, and deference to, local plans around this issue. Such plans would enable governments to establish robust protocols to coordinate action on this increasingly important challenge for cities.

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“…Costs to public health and the environment due to prolonged exposure to waste could increase the above estimate significantly (Srinivas and Nakagawa, 2008). Environmentally sensitive coastal dumping sites, waste burning, insufficient landfill capacity, impact on ground water, and lack of coordination were some of the problems encountered by local authorities in the affected areas (Basnayake et al, 2005;Selvendran and Mulvey 2005;Pilapitiya et al, 2006;Srinivas and Nakagawa, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-Disaster C&D Waste Management: The Case of COWAM Project in Sri Lanka

Karunasena

Rameezdeen

Amarathunga

2013

AJCEB-Conerence Series

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Waste management is considered to be the weakest phase in responding to a disaster. This became apparent when Sri Lanka suffered enormously from the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. The City of Galle located on the south coast was severely affected by this event, causing some 4000 deaths and destroying over 15000 houses. The Construction Waste Management (COWAM) project funded by the European Union from 2005-2009 looked at the most sustainable ways of dealing with Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste after a disaster and devised a pilot C&D recycling plant (COWAM Centre) in Galle. This paper reflects on the C&D waste management practices followed by the city authorities during the recovery and reconstruction phase right up to the operation of the COWAM Centre with the intention of seeking best practices for the future. As part of the COWAM case study, semistructured interviews were conducted with municipal authorities and voluntary organizations to identify the C&D waste management process followed during recovery and reconstruction. Empirical data was collected from actual demolition sites located in Galle to establish the quantity of C&D waste, composition, hazardous substances found, and collection efficiency. Findings revealed that waste was disposed initially into temporary dumping sites and later re-cycled through the COWAM Centre. However, this study found many issues that could have been avoided if Galle Municipal Council had planned and implemented a quick C&D waste management strategy. Key issues which arose were lack of heavy vehicles, lack of manpower, inability to forecast the amount and composition of waste, and inability to identify suitable temporary dumping sites. The characteristics of C&D waste gave a baseline for the design of COWAM Centre. The paper presents a viable approach to overcome issues pertaining to C&D waste management during the aftermath of a disaster through the lessons learned from the COWAM project.

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Effects of the tsunami on waste management in Sri Lanka

Cited by 33 publications

References 0 publications

The role of solid waste management as a response to urban flood risk in developing countries, a case study analysis

The role of solid waste management as a response to urban flood risk in developing countries, a case study analysis

When Diverse Norms Meet Weak Plans: The Organizational Dynamics of Urban Rubble Clearance in Post‐Earthquake Haiti

Post-Disaster C&D Waste Management: The Case of COWAM Project in Sri Lanka

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