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Lunawa lagoon –an environmental nightmare
View(s):The pristine Lunawa lagoon in Moratuwa -the only lagoon in the Colombo district- is in danger of turning into polluted eyesore with private sector factories as well as railway and bus depots discharging effluents into it.
The biggest culprits are two government institutions –the railway workshop and the SLTB depot at Ratmalana which channel oil waste into the lagoon.
During the colonial era the British installed a cleaning plant to cleanse the waste before releasing it into the lagoon. While the facility is still usable it is not being used.
Environmentalists are concerned that chemical inputs mixed with salt water in the lagoon could destroy living organisms in these waters.
The issue was raised at the Development Committee meeting of Moratuwa this week. Through warnings and threat of litigation, local government authorities feel they have been able to minimise the disposal of waste water and oil into the lagoon, but it is the two state institutions which pose the biggest environmental problem to the lagoon.
Local government authorities say govt. institutions are biggest polluters
Storm drains carry garbage and refuse to the lagoon
The British built a treatment plant, unfortunately the facility is no longer used.
Storm drains carry loads of garbage which end up in the lagoon
The banks of the lagoon are filled with garbage and plastic waste
The pristine lagoon at Lunawa is in danger of turning into a fetid eyesore
The CGR workshop and the CTB depot channel oil waste into the lagoon