Sri Lanka’s struggle to rebuild after Cyclone Ditwah has taken a decisive turn, with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) issuing an unprecedented call for urgent, affordable international financing to prevent the country from slipping back into economic instability. The UN agency warns that the scale of the disaster flooding 1.1 million hectares and exposing 2.3 million people is far beyond what Sri Lanka can manage without plunging deeper into unaffordable debt.
UNDP Resident Representative Azusa Kubota cautioned that recovery is now “inseparable from the country’s financial fragility,” arguing that Sri Lanka cannot shoulder additional debt after weathering one of its most severe economic crises. “International partners must step up with affordable financing and innovative instruments that enable rapid recovery without pushing the country off the debt cliff,” she said.
UNDP assessments indicate that the worst-affected regions—Puttalam, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, and the central highlands—are areas where disaster impacts collide with long-standing vulnerabilities. Many families lived with high debt, informal incomes, and weak access to public services even before the cyclone. More than half of the exposed population was already debt-burdened, raising fears that recovery without assistance would drive households into deeper hardship.
The devastation is extensive. Nearly 720,000 buildings, including 243 hospitals and hundreds of schools, were affected. Over 16,000 km of roads, 480 bridges, and 278 km of rail lines were exposed to floodwaters, severely disrupting mobility and delaying relief operations. In Colombo and Gampaha districts alone, the concentration of exposure has strained essential public services and highlighted the urgent need for long-term relocation solutions for residents living in high-risk zones.
Agriculture has suffered catastrophic losses. More than 530,000 hectares of paddy land were submerged, with Dimbulagala recording the highest inundation. These losses directly threaten food security, as 20– 30% of households in affected areas report having less than one week of dry food stocks.
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