Dec 06, Colombo: Sri Lanka will mark the National Safety Day, which was commemorated six years continuously since 2006, in Badulla district this year.

The National Safety Day was inaugurated following the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami on the Boxing Day of 2004 to commemorate the lives lost and to increase awareness among the public in such catastrophic disasters and educate them to prepare for such disasters.

Commemorative ceremonies have been held continuously for the past 6 years in Galle, Ratnapura, Kandy, Kurunegala, Jaffna and Batticaloa Districts respectively.

The Cabinet approved a proposal made by the Minister of Disaster Management Mahinda Amaraweera to commemorate the 2012 National Safety Day in Badulla District, in association with the relevant ministries and institutions.

According to statistics 35,322 people lost their lives in Sri Lanka and over 500,000 lost their homes when the island was struck by the tsunami resulted from the Indian Ocean earthquake in Indonesia on December 26, 2004.