Sri Lanka State of Environment Report:The Monthly Overview, November, 2014
Small Scale Power Generation Sector through renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar power and biomass sources has contributed effectively to the generation of electricity in Sri Lanka and the country expects to reach a target of 20% of the power supply by renewable energy by 2020. Read more in November 2014 edition of the Monthly Overview on State of Environment, Sri Lanka.
ENVIRONMENT
Sri Lanka Minister of Education Bandula Gunawardena said that agriculture farms would be established at each school and Colleges of Education in the island. Accordingly, farms would be established in about 10,000 schools and 18 Colleges of Education.
LAND, AGRICULTURE, GRAZING LANDS AND ANIMAL CARE
The Central Provincial Agriculture Ministry in Sri Lanka, has taken steps to promote the cultivation of old paddy varieties in the Matale district from the Maha season. The Northern Province in Sri Lanka, had tried out pilot projects to cultivate pineapple as an intercrop under coconut and mango cultivations in all of its five districts said NP Director Agriculture S. Sivakumar.
DAMS
The Moragahakanda-Kaluganga Development project is to provide irrigation for agriculture and water for domestic and industrial use in Central, North central, Eastern, North and North Western provinces of Sri Lanka.
POLLUTION
A three- day Integrated Conference on Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2014 and Intergovernmental 8th Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum in Asia, was held in Colombo from November 19-21.
FLOODS, DROUGHTS AND NATURAL DISASTERS
Sri Lanka also has signed an agreement with the World Bank that will allow it to draw up to $102 million from a loan facility for disaster assistance within 48 hours of a natural disaster that has been declared a national emergency.
HABITAT
The Sri Lankan government spent Rs. 6,000 million for development work in the Kurunegala and Puttalam districts last year under the Deyata Kirula-2014 national development program. The Sri Lankan Transport Ministry has included the monorail transport system in its master plan prepared with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for developing the urban transport system linking the Colombo city with the suburbs, Parliament was informed. The plan, which will be implemented in stages from 2015 to 2035, includes both road and rail-based transport systems.
WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION
The Water Supply and Drainage Ministry in Sri Lanka, has taken steps to Implement Priority Water Supply Projects with funding secured from local banks and to speed up the construction work on the Medirigiriya Water Supply Project - Phase II and Ettampitiya Water Supply Project. The Cabinet has decided to implement the Kundasale Haragama Water Project for the benefit of the people in that region. Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, Sri Lankan Minster of Water Resource and Drainage, obtained cabinet approval to implement this mega water project which will be the largest in the Kundasale area since the construction of Victoria Dam.
HEALTH
Over 382 million people the world over and in Sri Lanka have been diagnosed with diabetes and this number will double to 592 million by 2035, statistics from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) report of 2013, have revealed. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has allocated Rs.180 billion for the health sector in 2015, which is an increase of Rs. 18 billion when compared to last year. The allocation for the health sector in 2014 was Rs. 162 billion, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena said.
ENERGY
Small Scale Power Generation Sector through renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar power and biomass sources has contributed effectively to the generation of electricity in Sri Lanka and the country expects to reach a target of 20% of the power supply by renewable energy by 2020. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to loan US$ 150 million as a the first tranche for the project of implementation of Green Power Development and Energy Efficiency Improvement Investment in Sri Lanka, the Finance and Planning Ministry said in a media release.
LIVING RESOURCES
In Sri Lanka, Director General of Wildlife Conservation H. D. Ratnayake said that one of the biggest problems officials in the Elahera-Bakamuna range were faced with was to tackle the wild jumbo problem. Many elephants which had migrated from the land adjoining the Moragahakanda Reservoir project were roaming in villages in the Naula and Dambulla Divisional Secretariat areas, he added. The The Sri Lankan Economic Development Ministry has released Rs. 3 million to the Wildlife Conservation Department to tackle the monkey menace in in the Ukuwela Divisional Secretariat area.