Intensified development in Sri Lanka has increased the demand for river sand which is a raw building material. The laws and regulations of the country on river sand mining are governed by the Mines and Minerals Act No. 33 of 1992 as amended in 2009 and the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB) and relevant Divisional Secretariats are the authorized government bodies to issue permits/licenses to persons involved in such activities. Excessive sand mining is a common practice along the
Maha Oya is one of the largest rivers in Sri Lanka, which flows 128 km across four provinces and five districts. It starts from Nawalapitiya, from the area of Aranayake and falls in to the Indian Ocean from Kochchikade, North of Negombo. More than 1.1 million of population lives by the river, harnessing myriad of benefits from the river for their subsistence and livelihood activities. The Maha Oya provides water for domestic and industrial needs of different communities living
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
