Effects of landslide in Meeriyabedda Estate: a descriptive analysis

Abstract

This research examines the effects of the landslide in Meeriyabedda Estate which occurred in October 2014. The objective of the research is to analyze the immediate and enduring social and economic effects caused by the landslide. The descriptive analysis was used to analyze the effects using secondary data between the periods of 2010 to 2019. According to the data, totally 79 families were affected by the landslide, among them 37 people died by the landslide. Rest of the people had immediately evacuated from their houses to the main camps. Moreover, after the landslide, people lost their income sources such as agriculture cultivation, animal husbandry, tea plantation, and shops etc. In addition Meeriyabedda estate people face difficulties in accessing medical facilities and schools as a result of the decline of transport and infrastructure due to the landslide. Findings anticipate that Meeriyabedda estate people are still facing many problems in building their economic as well as social aspects. Further, this study will be helpful for the policy makers as it provides recommendations to fix warning devices to detect the landslide at high risk areas for landslide and to provide self-employment and credit facilities to people who have lost their lands, properties and employment as well as building schools and hospitals in close proximity to the resettled areas for the easy access.