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Bopitiya dump stirs up garbage danger, anger
Backhoes are seen excavating sand (above) with a part of the site being used to dump garbage (inset). Pix by Athula Devapriya
In its haste to dump garbage anywhere but Meethotamulla following the deaths and devastation on April 12, the Government is stirring up more anger across the city.
Residents of Bopitiya are up in arms over the garbage being dumped in Muthurajawela, a part of a wildlife sanctuary.
Residents and environmentalists say the area has been contaminated after several days of garbage dumping by the Colombo Municipal Council.
The Director General, Department of Wildlife Conservation, W. S. K. Pathiratna said yesterday, the dumping had begun while he was out of the country.
Residents complain that the garbage was dumped after a person had claimed ownership of the site.
They said they built their homes bordering the buffer zone of the Muthurajawela sanctuary and had requested approval from the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation, and the Agrarian Services.
They say approval had not been sought from the Central Environmental Authority before hauling solid waste to Bopitiya.
During a visit, the Sunday Times saw how people had blocked the narrow entrance to the lane of a housing scheme leading to the dumping site. Police were present.
Within the land, backhoes were seen excavating sand, while a part of the site was being used to dump garbage.
Rev Father Dinush Gayan, assistant parish priest of Bopitiya Church told the Sunday Times that about 300 tonnes of non-biodegradable waste are dumped in a single day.
He said that even when the Agrarian Services requested documents as well as environmental impact assessments, neither the owner of the site nor the government officials could provide them.
Rev Gayan said goons associated with the site owner disrupted a silent protest.
K.L Newton Perera, a lawyer who is also a resident of Nugape, Muthurajawela said some people are using the garbage to fill the land.
Mr Perera said the Meethotamulla dump also was created on marshy land.
“Bopitiya too is included to the Muthurajawela sanctuary and the dump site is also in a watery, marshy soil which stays wet during the dry seasons,’’ he said.
Anil Lankapura Jayamaha, the president of the Organisation for protecting the Muthurajawela Sanctuary, said that the government was dumping garbage by relying on the ownership claims of a person.
“The muddy soil and the waterways which people use for bathing, drinking and fishing, will be poisoned and cause health issues,’’ he said.
He said criminal gangs have moved in to extort money from garbage lorries, just as it was in Meethotamulla.
An official of the Agrarian Services, said 40 foot craters have been dug to dump waste.
The officer said she and officials wrote to President Maithripala Sirisena and the Colombo Municipal Commissioner, and were planning to go to court.
Meanwhile, Land Reclamation chairman, Asela Iddawella, said the Megapolis Ministry and local government offices of Wattala have proposed a waste dump.
The cabinet this week approved a recommendation for a site to manage 400 metric tonnes of waste per day on a five-acre site in the Muthurajawela area under the Wattala Divisional Secretary.
Mr Iddawela explained that the land at Muturajawela will be used to create an electric power plant, while another land will be used as a sanitary disposal site.
“The plant will create power from 500 tonnes [of waste] per day while a business model garbage dump will also be erected,’’ he said.
He said the waste-to-electricity plant will be operational after three years or a minimum of two years, while the sanitary land fill will take over 18 months.
He said the President also had asked that the engineering assessment and environmental impact assessment be done while the project continues.
The Director General of the Central Environmental Authority, K.H Muthukudarachchi said that the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry was carrying out garbage management programmes.
K.L.Newton Perera
He said the CEA had done environmental impact assessments for two projects at Muthurajawela, undertaken by the Ministry of Megapolis and local councils.
He said garbage from Colombo will be dumped at Muthurajawela, Karadiyana and Aruwakkalu.
Environmentalist of the Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle, Supun Lahiru Prakash, said that sanitary fillings are done after recycling various materials and by burying the most toxic waste.
He said the garbage will contaminate the waterways which support the bio diversity of the sanctuary.
He claimed that the private land in Bopitiya is within the vicinity of the sanctuary and the dump has caused damage already. He also warns of the flooding threat.
Mr Prakash said that the government move tramples on laws including wildlife legislation and also disregards a court order.
