Abstract:
At present, the natural disasters faced by Sri Lankans are
increasing day by day. Even in a catastrophic situation, it becomes
integral part of cultural life when in constant conflict with life.
Rather than finding solution to the problem, the study based on
the persuasiveness of people to make it a blessing to their day to
day lives and the nature of the new lifestyles associated with it. The
objective of the research was to study the socio-cultural impact of
the natural environment and its changes. According to the
analytical research, the study area was selected as 435-
Kahatapitiya Gramasewa Division located in Hanwella Divisional
Secretariat Division. Out of the 344 indoor units the population
that suffering from flood, among the population 40 households
were selected and studied as 12%. The sample was selected
through the judging sample, stratification sample and random
sample. The findings reveal that the whole socio-cultural
environment such as the economy, daily life and religious beliefs of
the people living in the area are adapted to this environment.
Examples including surrendering to the god Ranwala, building
houses to withstand disasters and taking advantage of disasters.
58% of the respondents were of the opinion that this disaster was
a common situation faced by all the people living in the lowlands
and that no action could be taken to address it. Thus, it can be
concluded that the socio-cultural environment in which he is grew
up as well as the environment in which he brought up creates the
whole personality, including the inner status of the individual.
However, it should be noted that the natural environment and the
natural disasters are great impact on it have a great effect on the
social status, cultural background as well as the personality of the
people living under that environmental background.
