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| Main street of Jaffna. Pix: internet |
By Prashalini Shanthirakumar
Once celebrated for its cultural heritage and post-war recovery, Jaffna is now grappling with a wave of urban problems threatening the health, well-being, and sustainability of its communities. With rapid urbanization unfolding over the past decade, the city faces mounting challenges including water shortages, improper waste disposal, traffic congestion, environmental degradation, and inadequate infrastructure.
Water Woes:Depleting Resources and Rising Health Risks
Jaffna's water crisis is among the most pressing concerns. With the majority of households relying on open dug wells and tube wells, groundwater serves as the city’s lifeline. However, years of over-extraction, agricultural runoff, sewage leaks, and saltwater intrusion have severely degraded water quality.
Residents in many areas struggle to access clean and safe water, particularly during dry seasons. Compounding the issue is the lack of a proper drainage or sewerage network. During heavy rainfall, streets flood, and polluted stormwater finds its way into drinking water sources, sparking health hazards such as waterborne diseases.
Wasted Potential: A City Burdened by Its Own Refuse
Solid waste management in Jaffna paints an equally grim picture. Streets, empty plots, and even protected areas are dotted with illegal dumping sites. Burning of household and medical waste often done at night to avoid detection releases harmful pollutants into the air.
According to recent field surveys, over 50 illegal dump and burn sites were identified across the municipality. The situation is worsened by limited public awareness, poor municipal coordination, and the absence of organized source separation or recycling initiatives.
Choked Roads, Strained Transit
With increased ownership of motorcycles and three-wheelers, Jaffna's roadways particularly in the city center are routinely gridlocked. Public transport, which once formed the backbone of urban mobility, has lost public trust due to outdated infrastructure, irregular schedules, and poor management.
Many commuters prefer personal vehicles, adding further pressure to roads that lack proper design or alternative travel routes. Without intervention, traffic congestion threatens to paralyze daily life and business activity in the city.
Environmental Pressures: From Coastline to City Core
Climate change is also leaving its mark on Jaffna. Rising sea levels and coastal erosion are slowly consuming shoreline infrastructure. Inland, deforestation, sand mining, and the spread of invasive species like Parthenium weed are disrupting local ecosystems, threatening biodiversity and human health alike.
These ecological threats are interconnected with the city’s waste and water issues, forming a complex environmental crisis that cannot be addressed in isolation.
Urban Planning Gaps and the Need for Scientific Solutions
Jaffna's post-conflict development has led to scattered infrastructure projects lacking spatial coherence. A major contributing factor to the city's dysfunction is poor road connectivity. Many newer developments are poorly integrated with main roads, forcing traffic onto limited arterial routes.
Urban scholars suggest space syntax a scientific technique for analyzing spatial connectivity could provide a solution. Widely used in urban morphology and architectural planning, space syntax analyzes how the layout of streets and public spaces affects movement, accessibility, and land use patterns.
Incorporating such tools into urban design could help Jaffna re imagine its road systems, optimize land use, and improve overall urban efficiency.
Towards a Resilient Future: Recommendations for Action
To move forward, experts recommend that Jaffna adopt data-driven spatial planning techniques supported by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and interdisciplinary urban modeling tools. A scientific planning approach should aim to:
- Integrate water, transportation, land use, and public services
- Prioritize sustainability and climate resilience
- Encourage community participation and awareness
- Build strong institutional and governance frameworks
Jaffna stands at a critical juncture. While progress since the civil conflict is undeniable, the city’s unchecked urban expansion threatens to reverse its hard-earned gains. By embracing smart planning, environmental stewardship, and public engagement, Jaffna can transform its urban challenges into opportunities for inclusive, resilient growth.
The writer is an Agricultural Instructor attacehd to the Department of Agriculture, Jaffna
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