Sri Lanka State of Environment Report: The Monthly Overview, October, 2013
Gem mining in Seethawaka river has been taken over by the Sri Lankan government, National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA). According to Director General Janaka Udaya Kumara, this decision was taken to prevent illegal gem mining in the Thalduwa area of Seethawaka river. Read more in this October 2013 edition of the Monthly Sri Lanka State of the Environment Report published by the South Asia Environment Portal. Read and Share.
LAND, AGRICULTURE, GRAZING LANDS AND ANIMAL CARE
It has been planned to convert 250 farmers in the Anuradhapura District of Sri Lanka in to commercial farmers under the government’s commercial farmer development program which had been launched recently by the Agriculture Ministry. The Sri Lankan Agriculture Ministry will launch a special crop cultivation project in Padaviya, Kebithigollewa, Medawachchiya and Horowpothana DS divisions to be on a par with the Mahinda Chinthana. Around 500 island wide farmers' associations in Sri Lanka will join together to form a broad forum for farmers in the country, a representative said.
MINING
Gem mining in Seethawaka river has been taken over by the Sri Lankan government, National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) Director General Janaka Udaya Kumara said. He said this decision was taken to prevent illegal gem mining in the Thalduwa area of Seethawaka river. An Australian company, Bora Bora Resources Limited has started airborne electromagnetic surveying at its Matale Graphite Project in Sri Lanka.
DAMS
In Sri Lanka, Rs. 457 million has been allocated under the Wari-Pubudu program to irrigate 10,800 paddy plots in Wayamba. The Wari-Pubudu program has constructed 618 minor ponds to provide water for those who faced with a shortage of water in the Puttlam and Kurunegala districts. Japan-based Kosgulana Hydro Company has signed an agreement with Sri Lanka's investment promoter, the Board of Investment (BOI) to establish a new mini hydro power plant in the country.
FLOODS, DROUGHTS AND NATURAL DISASTERS
More than 5,500 people had been affected by the prevailing drought in the Polonnaruwa District of Sri Lanka, Asst. Director of the Disaster Management Centre Upul Nanayakkara said.
WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION
Sri Lanka as the host country of the fourth South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-IV) played an important role not only convening governments but also launching an important declaration, the Colombo Declaration which gave guidance and direction to other countries in South Asia, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) Executive Director Christoper W. Williams said. The overall sanitation coverage has reached nearly 89 per cent of Sri Lanka, but one third of schoolchildren in the country do not have safe sanitary facilities, IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks affiliated to the UN) report has said.
HEALTH AND OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS
In Sri Lanka, over 47 percent of dengue cases so far in 2013 have been reported from the Western Province. Sri Lanka has made significant achievements in controlling dengue within a short period of three years of the establishment of the Presidential Taskforce on Dengue Prevention, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said. Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said that the Sri Lankan government was grateful to the World Health Organisation (WHO) for supporting and granting funds to promote the health sector.
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS
Forty employees of a chemical factory and 30 persons residing in the neighbourhood of Sri Lanka were admitted to hospital following a gas leak at the factory in Piliyandala.
ENERGY
An agreement was signed between Sri Lanka and India to commence the construction of the Sampoor Coal power station within a year. The new power station will contribute a power capacity of 500 MW to the National Grid. Cairn India is currently in discussions with the Sri Lankan government to commercialize the Dorado well in the Mannar Basin, probably including a pipeline from the well to Norochcholai.
LIVING RESOURCES
Sri Lanka Ministry of Botanical Gardens and Public Recreation has decided to establish a small scale zoo in the country's administrative capital Sri Jayewardenepura ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Colombo in November.