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Regaining Mount Lavinia beach
View(s):
Before restoration
A project to restore the beach washed off due to the sea erosion in the Mt Lavinia area has been completed as part of a Rs 890 million project to restore beaches from Ratmalana to Kalutara, officials said.
Coast Conservation Department Director General Prabath Chandrakeerthi told the Sunday Times that pumping in sand was a better solution than dumping boulders, as the beaches were a tourist attraction.
The project has also another benefit. To a great extent, it has addressed the threat sea erosion was posing to the Colombo-Matara railway line.
“There were questions as to why we were filling the beaches amid the coronavirus crisis. We did so because we had already paid the company providing the vessel to pump sand at Rs 100,000 per hour,” he said.
The project had no connection with the Port City project, he said adding that the first cabinet paper in this regard was submitted in 2017.
Pix and text by Reka Tharangani Fonseka.
restoration in progress