The Center for the Study of Nature points out that on October 11, Secretary to the President PB Jayasundara issued Circular CIF / 02/2021 for the issuance of permits for the transportation and trade of black stone, sand, soil, gravel and clay. That it is an act that causes serious damage to the ecosystem.
At a press conference in Colombo, Dr. Ravindra Kariyawasam, an environmentalist at the Center for the Study of Nature, pointed out that according to the committee appointed by the Gazette Extraordinary 2196/28 on October 6, 2020, the sand mining people and companies are all inconvenienced due to the obstacles related to sand mining and transportation. He said that the government was trying to get the state sponsorship of the sand smuggling business again in the name of re-issuing sand and mineral licenses to free the people from inconveniences.
He also alleges that the government has started issuing sand mining licenses to the left bank of the Mahaweli River in 2021 and has issued 1300 sand permits within 22 km from Seruwawila to Kinniya.
“This has caused serious environmental damage in the area. At present about 60,000 acres are cultivated in the Kantale and Seruwawila agribusinesses and paddy cultivation is being severely damaged due to the salinity caused by sand mining. ”
Environmentalist Ravindra Kariyawasam warns that allowing the government to re-excavate sand in the country’s river ecosystem could lead to serious environmental damage and a groundwater crisis in the future.
He further pointed out that it has been proposed to place the issuance of permits for sand mining through the new circular under the Divisional Secretaries and the removal of the Geology and Mining Bureau from the process would cause serious environmental damage.