Rotting Pipes, Clogged Drains Unleash Economic Ruin: Families Lose Wages, Face Crippling Medical Bills, Watch Homes Flood
By Rasani Sonali
For thousands of struggling families in our cities, the pipes and drains under their streets aren’t just broken – they’re ruining their lives and ability to earn a living. A shocking new study conducted by Marga Institute with Gamani Corea Foundation shows the harsh truth about the money problems caused by this neglect: overflowing drains and dirty water are devastating poor city neighborhoods.
Urban dwellers are losing money because they can’t work, facing huge medical bills, seeing their homes flooded, and constantly spending money just to find safe water.
We already know dirty, standing water spreads diseases like dengue and cholera. But this study figures out the hidden, crushing cost when officials don’t fix these problems. It shows exactly how broken drains and sewers lead straight to empty wallets and hopeless situations for struggling families. The study looked closely at the money lost from constant floods, the cost of getting sick from living near waste, the problems caused by poor garbage collection, and asked a big question: Where is the taxpayer money that’s supposed to fix all this actually going?
On the Front Lines of Failure
To see how bad this problem is across the country, the Marga Institute studied all 25 districts of Sri Lanka. We used health reports and information about water and sanitation infrastructure and services from the authorities to carefully survey about 50 struggling households in each district. That’s about 1,390 homes in total. It focused on families identified as living right in the middle of the water and sanitation crisis. These are areas with poor housing, often right next to open sewers and dirty canals. Many lack basic things like good roofs, clean water, or working toilets.
What the study found was communities barely getting by. About a third run small local businesses, another third sadly have no jobs, and a fifth depend on unsteady daily wage work – working as labourers, tea pickers, three-wheel drivers, and tailors. At the same time, talks with city money managers showed a worrying difference between the money set aside for fixes and what actually gets done on the ground.
Water Nightmares & Drainage Disasters
Clean, safe water? For many, it’s a distant dream. People in Kandy and Batticaloa said their water was ‘Good’. But in cities like Nuwara Eliya, Puttalam, Matale, and Anuradhapura, the water quality is ‘Bad’. Residents there worry constantly about chemicals, human waste, or high calcium levels in the water making their children sick. In Mullaitivu, Nuwara Eliya, Kilinochchi, Gampaha, and Matale, there’s often no water from the taps at all. This forces families to get water from wells, boreholes, streams, or public taps.
Making things worse are frequent water cuts without any warning. This hits women the hardest. They lose valuable time collecting water. The health problems are serious. Kidney disease linked to bad water is a major worry.
Then there’s the rain. In Matale, Kandy, Galle, Nuwara Eliya, and Badulla, poor drains mean rainfall causes disaster. People say sewers are blocked with trash, cleaned only sometimes (if ever), and can’t handle heavy rain. This leads to disgusting, repeated floods. Surprisingly, the study found that serious drain problems aren’t just happening in areas with lots of rain. Big problems were also reported in usually drier places like Mannar, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, and Jaffna. The fact that this failure is so widespread, even in places that don’t get heavy monsoon rains, strongly suggests the real problem is bigger than just handling rainfall. It points to basic, often ignored, flaws in how infrastructure is planned and taken care of everywhere.
The Crushing Cost of Neglect?
Jobs Lost: Getting sick stops people from working and earning money. In Kalutara, families lost 14 work days on average; Gampaha saw 11 days lost. Even Colombo and Matara averaged five lost days – a huge blow to family incomes. Losing pay hit these struggling households hard. It wasn’t just about losing one or two days; the minimum average number of workdays lost was three. This highlights the huge financial strain, especially for workers in the informal sector.
* Health Bills Soar: Paying for treatment for diseases spread by dirty water and insects (like mosquitoes) drains families’ money. Average medical costs reached a shocking LKR 15,000 in Gampaha, LKR 14,712 in Kalutara, and LKR 13,846 in Hambantota. Even the ‘lowest’ average cost for medical bills, LKR 2,500, is still a lot of money for these families.
* Homes Destroyed: Regular floods mean families constantly face expensive repairs to damaged homes and ruined belongings.
* Forced to Buy Water: If the water supply fails or the water quality is bad, families are often forced to purchase bottled water. However, those who can’t afford this daily expense have to make a terrible choice – drink the unsafe water and risk getting sick with waterborne diseases.
For these residents, it’s like facing a daily tax simply for not being able to get safe, clean water from their taps. This leads to waterborne diseases, causing health problems now like stomach aches, blue baby syndrome, skin infections and serious issues later like kidney failure.
Choked by neglect
Residents describe a depressing daily life ruled by broken infrastructure. People are very worried about water quality. Many report suspected chemicals, human waste getting into the water supply, and worryingly high calcium levels. Adding to this worry is the unreliable water supply, with frequent, unexpected cuts that disrupt daily life. Making things worse is poor garbage collection. People complain about irregular pickup times and garbage being dumped illegally all over. Residents report that garbage pickup is unreliable. To make matters worse, collectors sometimes ask for tips and won’t take the garbage if they don’t get paid extra. This lack of care directly affects the drains. They are often blocked with garbage, aren’t cleaned often enough, and aren’t big enough to handle the rain. This directly leads to repeated, damaging floods.
Systemic Rot Blocks Solutions
Even with government projects announced, the situation for people hasn’t improved much. There are plenty of excuses: no electricity for water pumps, endless delays in buying materials, reaching chlorine usage limitations (like in Monaragala), not enough money to treat water properly, and sewage blocking up when it rains. The hard truth is: money is set aside, but real, long-lasting fixes often don’t happen. Money seems to disappear into a system that isn’t helping the people it’s supposed to. Kegalle district offers a positive example, showing that when projects directly target the issues people face, their quality of life can improve. In Kegalle, residents reported fewer troubles with both the quality of their water and getting reliable water from their taps. They said the reason for this was a water supply project done in the district that focused on helping city dwellers
Action NOW – Or More Families Sink
This crisis needs immediate, strong action. Temporary fixes are not enough. We need:?
Joined-Up Systems: Drainage, waste, and sanitation systems that are properly planned and
connected.
* Proper Sewage Treatment: Especially when it floods, along with proper cleaning and sanitation methods.
* Drains That Can Handle Floods: Much bigger drains and regular cleaning of blocked waterways.
* Regular Upkeep is Key: Taking care of existing pipes and drains routinely is essential, not optional.
* GUARANTEED Safe Water: Properly cleaned water through reliable supply.
* Dependable Garbage Collection: Regular, monitored collection is vital.
* ACCOUNTABILITY: Close watching to make sure projects actually work and money is spent correctly.
This isn’t just about pipes and budgets; it’s about human dignity and economic survival. Transparent governance, targeted investment in resilient infrastructure, and rigorous oversight are not luxuries – they are the only way to lift this crushing economic burden from the shoulders of the urban poor and build cities that work for everyone. Citizens are demanding tangible solutions. Authorities must finally implement projects that address the real, urgent infrastructure crises people face daily, proving that governance changes can actually translate into improved lives, unlike what has happened so far.