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Court moved against construction of highway across wetland

Published

3 years ago

2023/02/6

By Ifham Nizam

A case had been filed against the construction of the 3.15 km Orugudawatta-Athurugiriya highway, running through the Thalangama-Avarihena wetland, the Centre for Environmental Justice legal team said.

The construction of roads through a wetland was to be carried out under the National Environment Act 1487/10 Gazette. However, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report has not been submitted for the project’s second phase. This is an unauthorised practice as per Schedule II of the Gazette.

The suit was filed on 11.02.2021 by two petitioners, including the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), under the powers conferred by Sections 24 C and 24D of the Environment Act No. 47 of1980.The proposed highway is to run through the Talangama/Avarihena wetland, which was declared by Gazette No. 1487/10 dated March 2007 as an Environmental Protection area.

The petitioners have requested the Court to issue a writ of prohibition against the respondents for allowing the construction to pass through the Talangama Wetland.However, the respondents have argued that Gazette No. 1487/10 has been amended by Gazette No.2237/7 issued by the Minister, and since the case has been filed based on Gazette No.1487/10 there is no need to maintain this case further.

After considering the facts, the Court of Appeal ordered, on January 19, 2022, that according the Third Schedule (n) of Gazette No. 2237/7, the construction of the expressway in question should not harm the ecologically protected area.

Since the petitioners have been able to prove their case prima facie that the minister changed the original order to the environmental protection zone, the court allowed the petitioner to continue the petition. This was followed by a petition filed by the Road Development Authority and its Chairman on 25 February 2022.

A petition was filed on December 23, 2020, by the Centre for Environmental Justice and Senior Advisor/Director, Hemantha Withanage regarding the illegal activities around the Muthurajawela Sanctuary. The Muthurajawela North Swamp area has been declared as a wetland sanctuary as per the Special Gazette No. 947/13 and its induction zone has also been declared an “Environment Protection Zone’ in 2004 under Sections 24C and 24D of the National Environment Act Gazette No. 1466/26 dated 13 Oct 2006.The petitioners request an interim restraining order to stop activities in the vicinity of the

Muthurajawela Sanctuary violating the Agricultural Development Act No. 46 of 2000, for carrying out activities related to the Extraordinary Gazette No. 772/22 dated 24.06.1993 without an environmental assessment report, carrying out activities that are prohibited in a sanctuary under Section 7 of the Wildlife and Flora Protection Ordinance. They also request to mark the physical boundaries of the Muthurajawela Sanctuary and to issue a writ of mandamus to implement the National Policy on Wetlands.

In the petition, the petitioners sought a writ of mandamus to act in terms of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance in relation to the damage caused. Giving the order dated 04 April 2022, the Court of Appeal directs the Director General of the Survey Department and the Inspector General of Police to mark the physical boundaries of the Muthurajawela Sanctuary and the Environmental Protection Zone. Also, the Central Environment Authority and the Department of Wildlife Conservation have been ordered to install notice boards in those zones and the Police Commissioner has been ordered to take steps to protect the relevant boundaries and boards and to take steps to prevent illegal activities from taking place in the Muthurajawela Sanctuary and the Environmental Protection Zone.

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Environmentalists warn Sri Lanka’s ecological safeguards are failing

Published

14 hours ago

2025/12/28

Thilina Walpola

Sri Lanka’s environmental protection framework is rapidly eroding, with weak law enforcement, politically driven development and the routine sidelining of environmental safeguards pushing the country towards an ecological crisis, leading environmentalists have warned.

Dilena Pathragoda, Managing Director of the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), has said the growing environmental damage across the island is not the result of regulatory gaps, but of persistent failure to enforce existing laws.

“Sri Lanka does not suffer from a lack of environmental regulations — it suffers from a lack of political will to enforce them,” Pathragoda told The Sunday Island. “Environmental destruction is taking place openly, often with official knowledge, and almost always without accountability.”

Dr. Pathragoda has said environmental impact assessments are increasingly treated as procedural formalities rather than binding safeguards, allowing ecologically sensitive areas to be cleared or altered with minimal oversight.

“When environmental approvals are rushed, diluted or ignored altogether, the consequences are predictable — habitat loss, biodiversity decline and escalating conflict between humans and nature,” Pathragoda said.

Environmental activist Janaka Withanage warned that unregulated development and land-use changes are dismantling natural ecosystems that have sustained rural communities for generations.

“We are destroying natural buffers that protect people from floods, droughts and soil erosion,” Withanage said. “Once wetlands, forests and river catchments are damaged, the impacts are felt far beyond the project site.”

Withanage said communities are increasingly left vulnerable as environmental degradation accelerates, while those responsible rarely face legal consequences.

“What we see is selective enforcement,” he said. “Small-scale offenders are targeted, while large-scale violations linked to powerful interests continue unchecked.”

Both environmentalists warned that climate variability is amplifying the damage caused by poor planning, placing additional strain on ecosystems already weakened by deforestation, sand mining and infrastructure expansion.

Pathragoda stressed that environmental protection must be treated as a national priority rather than a development obstacle.

“Environmental laws exist to protect people, livelihoods and the economy,” he said. “Ignoring them will only increase disaster risk and long-term economic losses.”

Withanage echoed the call for urgent reform, warning that continued neglect would result in irreversible damage.

“If this trajectory continues, future generations will inherit an island far more vulnerable and far less resilient,” he said.

Environmental groups say Sri Lanka’s standing as a biodiversity hotspot — and its resilience to climate-driven disasters — will ultimately depend on whether environmental governance is restored before critical thresholds are crossed.

By Ifham Nizam ✍️