Weerawila watchers still wary

Concerned over revised EIA report

By Madhushala Senaratne

Environmentalists have voiced serious concerns over the revised Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the proposed second international airport at Weerawila stating that it is incomplete. The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) is yet to approve or reject the revised EIA report which was issued following the rejection of the earlier report by the CEA.

The 30-day period during which the report was open for public comment ended on January 5. The report was prepared for the Airport and Aviation Services Pvt Ltd., by the Centre for Research and Development of the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB).

Environment activist Jagath Gunewardena said one of the major shortcomings of the revised EIA report was that it failed to adequately address the issues of the affected wildlife, especially that of resident and migratory birds. According to Mr. Gunewardena the site proposed for the construction of the airport borders Bundala which is a major feeding and resting place for thousands of migratory birds.

“The report was not prepared during the migratory period which falls at the end of August /beginning of September and lasts till March and thus it does not address the behaviour patterns or issues relating to migratory birds,” he said. “This site is also an important breeding place for certain resident birds and construction of an airport will seriously hamper breeding,” he added.

“Bird life will also be affected with the sound and vibrations caused by engines which may well exceed the permissible noise standards”, Mr. Gunewardena said. The impact on aircraft should also be considered, he said. “When large birds collide with a plane, they may be sucked into jet engines destroying or damaging certain parts of the engine”, he said, adding that such a collision would have serious consequences.

Mr. Gunewardena said that in the past few years there have been floods in the Weerawila area during the north-east monsoon, which fact has not been properly addressed in the revised version of the EIA report. Gallage Punyawardena, pioneer of Swarna Hansa, an agricultural organization said the construction of the airport and commercialization of the area will disturb the long established agrarian community.“In addition there are five historic water bodies in the surrounding area including Weerawila wewa, Yoda wewa and Tissa wewa which would also be greatly affected,” he said.

Centre for Environmental and Nature Studies Executive Director Piyal Parakrama said the revised EIA report has some legal problems. “According to the National Environmental Act a revised EIA can only be issued if the initial report is approved and amendments needed to be made. If the EIA was rejected the first time, as it was the case here, a fresh report needed to be compiled,” he said.

Three sites, namely Weerawila, Gannoruwa and Udamaththala were proposed for the construction of the airport. However environmentalists claim that the revised EIA report does not offer a strong justification for the selection of Weerawila as opposed to the other two sites.

Mr. Gunewardena said that Gannoruwa is the most suitable as the impact on the environment and the wildlife would be less than at Weerawila.“We are not against the construction of another international airport. However we ask that a complete evaluation of all possible sites be done and a comprehensive report be issued”, he said.

CEA Chairman Udaya Gammanpila said he could not comment on the revised EIA report as he would be the ultimate decision maker.