News
Sri Lanka’s coastline faces unfolding catastrophe: Expert
Sri Lanka is standing on the edge of a coastal catastrophe, with the nation’s lifeline rapidly eroding under the combined assault of climate change, reckless development and weak compliance, Director General of the Department of Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management (DCC&CRM) Dr. Terney Pradeep Kumara has warned.
“This is no longer an environmental warning we can afford to ignore. The crisis is already unfolding before our eyes,” Dr. Kumara told The Island, cautioning that the degradation of Sri Lanka’s 1,620-kilometre coastline has reached a point where delayed action could trigger irreversible damage to ecosystems, livelihoods and national security.
He said accelerating coastal erosion, rising sea levels, saltwater intrusion and the collapse of natural barriers, such as coral reefs and mangroves, are placing entire coastal communities at risk. “When mangroves disappear and reefs are destroyed, villages lose their first line of defence. What follows are floods, loss of homes, declining fisheries and forced displacement,” he said.
Dr. Kumara stressed that the coastline is not merely a development frontier but the backbone of Sri Lanka’s economy and cultural identity. “More than half of our tourism assets, fisheries and key infrastructure are concentrated along the coast.
If the coast fails, the economy will feel the shock immediately,” he warned.
Condemning unregulated construction, illegal sand mining and environmentally blind infrastructure projects, he said short-term economic interests are pushing the coastline towards collapse. “We cannot keep fixing one eroding beach while creating three new erosion sites elsewhere. That is not management—it is destruction,” he said, calling for science-driven, ecosystem-based solutions instead of politically convenient quick fixes.
The Director General said the Department is intensifying enforcement and shifting towards integrated coastal zone management, but warned that laws alone will not save the coast. “This is a shared responsibility. Policymakers, developers, local authorities and the public must understand that every illegal structure, every destroyed mangrove, weakens the island’s natural shield,” he added.
With climate change intensifying storms and sea surges, Dr. Kumara warned that Sri Lanka’s vulnerability will only worsen without urgent, coordinated national action. “The sea has shaped this nation’s history and protected it for centuries. If we fail to protect the coast today, we will be remembered as the generation that allowed the island itself to be slowly eaten away,” he went on to say.
By Ifham Nizam
A specialists committee has been appointed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation adhering to the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 29.12.2025 for submitting appropriate recommendations analyzing the provisions of the draft bill formulation in regard to Animal Welfare.
Based on the recommendations of the said Committee, the Legal Draftsman has been instructed at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on 18.05.2026 to prepare the final bill on the animal welfare.
Wherefore, the Legal Draftsman has formulated the draft bill and the clearance of the Attorney General has been received in the connection.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation to publish the said draft bill in the
Government Gazette Notification and subsequently forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
Under the legal provisions for elections in this country since 2004, it is mandatory for voters who come to mark their votes to verify their identity through a valid identity card, and it is also mandatory for all such voters to be marked with an appropriate mark using indelible ink. The dual purpose of these two functions is to prevent a voter from voting more than once in a single election.
It has been observed that having to follow two different
methods at the same time to achieve the same objective hinders the efficiency of the duties performed at the polling stations and also incurs additional costs to the government.
Therefore, it has been deemed appropriate to remove the legal provisions regarding the use of indelible ink and marking the voter with the appropriate mark from all election acts.
Accordingly, the development activities of the province, as well as national security, will benefit. Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the
President to take necessary steps to remove the legal provisions
• Section 36 of the presidential Election Act, No 15 of 1981
• Section 38 of the Parliamentary Election Act, No 01 of 1981
• Section 36 of the Provincial Council Election Act, No 02 of 1988
• Section 53 A of the Local Government Elections Ordinance (262 Authority)
• Section 21 of the Referendum Act No 7 of 1981
News
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
WEATHER FORECAST FOR 24 JUNE 2026
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 24 June 2026 by the Department of Meteorology
Several spells of showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts. Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in the Uva province and in Ampara and Batticaloa districts after 2.00 p.m.
Fairly strong winds about (30-40) kmph can be expectedat times over the Western slopes of the central hills, the Northern, North-central, North-western and Southern provinces and in Trincomalee district.
The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damage caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.
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Animal Welfare Draft Bill to be Gazetted
Legal provisions on marking voters using indelible ink during elections removed
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
Court vacancy row throws Parliament into turmoil; sittings disrupted
Climate, pollution, forest loss now hitting economy: BASL chief
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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