Experts say jaffna likely to be submerged by the sea

Northern Provincial Minister of Environment, Ponnuthurai Ainkaranesan said that experts have specifically warned that the Jaffna Peninsula shall be submerged by the sea due to the changes in weather pattern as a result of global warming.

"Tsunami severely hit the Northern and Eastern coastal area in 2004 when 40,000 people were killed in an hour. This created various damages to the properties and killed many.    We have not yet overcome the sorrows we faced when tsunami hit both the Northern and Eastern Provinces. thus it will be suitable to declare and observe 26 December as Disaster Control Day," he said.   He said so at the speech delivered when the Northern Provincial Council declared 26 December as Disaster Control Day on Wednesday (16) during the 41st sitting of the Council.   A resolution proposed by the Provincial Minister of Environment, Ainkaranesan, was adopted at the Council sessions on Wednesday(16) and will be annually observed on the 26th of December.   "Experts have revealed that Sri Lanka will experience natural calamities in future due to the change in weather patterns in the entire world," he said.   Minister Ainkaranesan said natural disasters are not new to planet earth. All creatures in the world have experienced all types of natural calamities from volcanoes to floods. However, recently natural disasters have become a threat to the entire world as the numbers of natural calamities have comparatively increased.   The increase in temperature has resulted in changes in weather patterns. Areas those had good rainfalls are no longer experiencing rains and are subjected to drought conditions, while areas that had drought is experiencing high rainfall resulting floods. Situation that occurred in Chennai a few weeks ago is a good example.   "Natural calamities cannot be prevented, however we can adopt certain practices to control such disasters in our country, thus we can save our lives from such natural calamities. We should create awareness among the general public to safeguard the environment without polluting it. We should carry out an efficient framework to ensure such practices.   Therefore I believe it is suitable to declare a disaster control day and observe it annually to create awareness among people," he added.