Talangama Wetlands in danger

By Jomo Uduman

The Ramsar accreditation of Colombo Wetlands and the Rebranding of Colombo as a Wetland City happened during the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in Dubai on 25 October 2018. Eighteen cities were declared as wetland cities across the globe and Colombo emerged the only South Asian city amongst them. The Colombo Wetland Complex spreads across Baddagana, Diyasauru, Heenela, Kolonnawa, Kotte, Maddinnagoda, Mulleriyawa, and Talangama.

Farmers and residents around the Talangama wetlands are simply aghast that plants for the construction of an elevated highway from Rajagiriya to Athurugiriya over or along these wetlands are being revived. Recently, (in the midst of a pandemic) farmers once again observed officials stealthily moving around their paddy fields. The owners of these lands have been asked to plant a wooden stake each on the boundaries of their properties with their telephone numbers written thereon.

The Talangama Wetlands was declared an Environmental Protection Area (EPA) under the National Environmental Act in 2007 and the CEA gazetted the Talangama wetland as an Environmental Protection Area. So, the question is whether approval for this project has been obtained from the CEA. The initial proposal of the RDA was to have the elevated highway over the Averihena Lake. But upon concerns raised by the CEA, the RDA then proposed an alternative route from Pothuarawa. But residents quickly protested asking why the RDA the had chosen a highly residential area, requiring the demolition of over 100 houses. Nobody is aware of the decisions taken in this regard.

Environment and Wildlife Resources Secretary A.H. Sarath Wijesinghe wrote to the Ministry Secretary in June this year mentioning, inter alia that, 3.15 km of this elevated highway would traverse the Talangama Wetlands and that such a construction within this EPA was not permitted under the National Environment Protection Act. In 2019, I was one of the 200 persons who wrote to the then President (copied to all relevant policy makers) protesting against the construction of the elevated highway over the wetlands, but in vain.

The Talangama lake was manmade centuries ago for the irrigation purposes, and is surrounded by many beautiful paddy fields, ponds, canals and marshes. It supports a very rich ecosystem hosting thousands of species of exotic flora, over a hundred different species of birds, several species of butterflies and dragonflies, a few species of damselflies, reptiles and amphibians, and small mammals.

The Talangama Wetlands is indeed birds’s paradise. One morning, in March, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne sighted 70 species of water birds, forest birds and garden birds in just four hours and 16 minutes just to demonstrate the richness of the Talangama Wetlands. Add to this the other nocturnal birds and this tally will soar. He says that his overall objective was to drive home the fact that Colombo is unique as a capital city in having such a rich wetland at its doorstep. And that he cannot think of any capital city which has such a bio-diversity rich wetland so close to it. Far too few people in Colombo even amongst wildlife enthusiasts realise how rich this wetland really is. He also confirms that there are only a few sites in Sri Lanka, where in the course of a single day one can sight over a hundred species. So, given Talangama Wetland’s urban location, he says it demonstrates how rich a wildlife refuge it is and how precious it is as an educational and recreational resource for Colombo’s growing population. Reading his short article, “Bird Paradise in Talangama Wetlands Surrounding the Lake” will definitely inspire people to pay more attention to wildlife and wetlands closer to home.

The Ramsar Convention (an international treaty for the conservation and suitable utilisation of wetlands) defines wetland as ‘areas of marsh, fen, peat land or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters’. Wetlands can help mitigate floods, offer protection from storms, help retain sediments, act as a carbon sink as well as a purifier of water.

I recently came across an apt observation in Piyumani Ranasinghe’s 2018 Daily FT article:

“The misconception of development as synonymous to large-scale infrastructure development programmes at the cost of the environment is one of the largest threat to our wetlands right now. While the right to development is unarguably important, policy making should not be clouded with the misconception of “develop now and clean up later”. These services rendered by wetlands are socio-economical. The public, municipal planners and decision makers do not calculate in these economic benefits of wetlands and overlook how wetlands make cities livable. Shifting this mindset thus is a fundamental part of the wetland city project conservation. In certain cases, some wetlands are being directly encroached by politically-backed parties, where the conflict of interests not only victimizes the wetlands but also destroys the pristine environments leaving the biodiversity of these wetlands at stake”.

For the past 15 years I have grown traditional varieties of paddy together with all the other farmers along this wonderful and pristine paddy belt. Here, we are standing at the edge of our bunds and visualizing ghastly concrete structures towering over our fields and toxic emissions ruining ecosystems that clean our water, purify our air, maintain our soil, regulate the climate, recycle nutrients and provide us with food.

Policy makers must take a good look at this 100 page well researched document, “METRO COLOMBO WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY 2016” available on the internet. While, the President will most certainly agree that before any development work is to commence, the environmental authorities should be consulted and environmental laws respected.