Around 120 perches of marsh land, essential for “flood retention”, coming under the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (SLLRDC) in the Rajagiriya Udyanaya area are being cleared of trees and filled up.
Many residents in the area were perturbed that the SLLRDC seemed to have given a permit to a private person to clear and fill the area for “development” purposes.
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| A section of the Udyanaya marsh land |
Can the SLLRDC parcel out land like this, asked well-known environmentalist Jayantha Jayewardene, who is a resident of the area, yesterday, even while a truck was bringing in soil to fill the land.
Pointing out the danger of such filling, he said that 10 years ago, when the Japanese cleared the canals etc in the Colombo area, a decision was taken to maintain 1,000 acres of low-lying land as a run-off area for the water overflow during heavy rains. “This has now been reduced to about 600 acres due to encroachments,” lamented Mr. Jayewardene, pointing out that the current filling up of the Rajagiriya Udyanaya would have serious repercussions and aggravate the problem.
The worst-affected would be the poor and lower middle-class families in Bandaranaikepura whose homes will get inundated first, he said.
Another resident who declined to be named said that such filling was taking place over a weekend because everyone knew that no action could be initiated. “This is being done with the connivance of the authorities including the SLLRDC,” the resident alleged.
When contacted, Environmental Engineer Missaka Hettiarachchi of the University of Moratuwa told The Sunday Times that Rajagiriya Udyanaya marsh was part of the Heen marsh demarcated under the Colombo Flood Detention Area. Dubbing it a “sensitive area”, he said, filling it up would ultimately lead to flooding of Colombo and its suburbs.
Meanwhile, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) said that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was required only if marsh land of four hectares (10 acres) were to be cleared. “We did inspect the area at Rajagiriya Udyanaya but as it is about 120 perches it does not require an EIA from us,” CEA Director-General Pasan Gunasena said.
Attempts to contact the Chairman of the SLLRDC Karunasena Hettiarachchi was not successful. | 
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