A chilling account from a former irrigation chief has sparked fresh outrage as allegations emerge that fear of corruption charges prevented life-saving action during Cyclone Ditwah.
Former Minister Udaya Gammanpila has revealed 13 key allegations pointing to serious government negligence during the cyclone disaster and flood situation that affected the country, while speaking during a discussion on an online media channel. He stated that a chilling story emerged during a private conversation he had with a former head of the Irrigation Department regarding the failure to properly manage reservoir spill gates during the storm.
According to Mr. Gammanpila, when rainfall of 400 to 500 millimeters is predicted, the most basic duty of irrigation engineers is to gradually open the spill gates of reservoirs in advance so that excess water can be safely absorbed. This process helps prevent sudden flooding in low-lying areas and allows reservoirs to maintain the required capacity. He said he directly questioned the former irrigation chief about why this critical procedure was not followed before Cyclone Ditwah intensified.
The former head of irrigation reportedly explained that officials are now afraid to open sluice gates because doing so can easily lead to accusations of corruption. “If they open the gates and water is released, they may be accused of wasting water meant for electricity generation, and all higher officials could be punished,” he said. As a result, the official admitted that taking necessary water management decisions is now viewed as “another job that will lead to imprisonment.”
Mr. Gammanpila said this fear has created a dangerous mindset within the public service where officials operate under the belief that “more work means more trouble, less work means less trouble, and no work means no trouble.” Because of this culture, decisions that require courage and responsibility are being avoided. Instead, officials prefer to shift responsibility upwards, delaying critical action because they fear prison if anything goes wrong.
He further stated that this culture of fear directly resulted in officials failing to take immediate preventive measures such as emptying reservoirs or widening estuaries before the disaster struck. According to him, if these basic steps had been taken in time, the impact of the floods could have been significantly reduced.
Mr. Gammanpila also claimed that due to the absence of proper authority and timely approval given to officials, people suffered severely in the aftermath of the cyclone. He said many affected families went without food for the first two or three days because officials failed to act decisively. He alleged that fear of legal consequences paralyzed the entire disaster response mechanism.
Taking his argument further, Mr. Gammanpila stated that this situation has now reached a level where there could even be grounds to file a criminal negligence case against the President for failing to take timely action and allowing large-scale damage to occur during Cyclone Ditwah.
