EFL is a stakeholder in the five year river management plan by the Geological Mines and Surveys Bureau for the Maha Oya that was implemented after a successful litigation effort regarding river sand and clay mining.
In a meeting held on February 2016 regarding the Maha Oya River Management Plan, developers had requested permits for mechanized clay mining. To address this request, EFL conducted a site visit on the 26th May 2016 to six proposed mining plots. EFL is in the process of formulating recommendations to strike a balance between development and conservation of invaluable riverine environment.
During the site visit, EFL observed that the riverine environment of the downriver Maha Oya was highly degraded and river morphology had changed considerably, affecting the hydrology. It is EFL’s general understanding that further extraction of the minerals from Maha Oya riverine environment would wreak havoc on the river health, jeopardizing environmental services and inviting river related environmental disasters. The full site visit report can be viewed below.
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