Category:Cases - Ongoing, Legal
CASE NUMBER
CA/WRIT/583/2023
The Wedithalathive Nature Reserve was declared as a Nature Reserve under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance by virtue of the Gazette Extraordinary bearing No. 1956/13 dated 1st of March 2016 and has a very rich and vibrant ecosystem consisting of mangroves, mudflats, saltmarshes, seagrass beds and coral reefs.
Despite of having clear-cut laws laid down, several government institutions are operating garbage dumping sites and a septage treatment plant within the Nature Reserve in contravention of the law, particularly the FFPO and the Regulations made thereunder. The DWC has failed to enforce and/or implement the provisions of the FFPO against these unlawful and/or unauthorized activities.
Therefore, EFL filed a Writ application on 06.10.2023 against the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and several other government situations to prevent the dumping of the garbage and the operation of the septage treatment plant within the Reserve.
Updates
When the application came up on the 08th of November 2023, the application was fixed for Support on the 12th of February 2024 and the State should file their Limited Objections on the 15th of December 2023 and Counter Affidavit should be filed on the 16th January 2024. The Court also gave a direction that garbage should not be dumped until the next date of the case. State Counsel who appeared for the 1st, 8th-10th and 14th Respondents stated that if there are any observations regarding the issue, a motion will be filed in the interim.
