Environmental Foundation Ltd. v Central Environmental Authority and Others [2006] 3 Sri LR 57 By: Kumudika Perera Bomburu Ella (Image Credits: Tripadvisor) Bomburu Ella Mini Hydropower Project at Nuwara Eliya was granted approval by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA). The petitioner alleged that CEA had granted this approval contravening the National Environmental Act. Court: Court of Appeal (Writ) Majority Judgment by: Sripavan, J. (Unanimous Judgement) Facts: The case is regarding the Bomburu Ella (Bomuruella) Mini Hydropower Project at Perawella, Nuwara
Bulankulama and Others v Secretary, Ministry of Industrial Development and Others
[2000] 3 Sri LR 243
By: Kumudika Perera
Image Credits: efl.lk
Bulankulama case is celebrated as a judgement that championed environmental conservation against an erratic development project. This blog highlights its relation to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.
Court: Supreme Court (Fundamental Rights)
Majority opinion by: Amerasinghe, J. (Unanimous Judgement)
Facts:
කර්තෘ: කාංචනා ෂෙහානි උධෘතය: සංවර්ධන ක්‍රියාවලිය මූලික පරිසර සංකල්පයන්ට අනුගතව, ස්වභාවික පරිසරය ආරක්ෂාවන පරිදි ධරණීයව සිදුකිරීමට රාජ්‍යයට වගකීමක් ඇත. Image Credits: Rajiv Perera on Unsplash ස්වභාවික සම්පතින් පොහොසත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, ආසියාතික කලාපය තුළ ඉහල ජෛව විවිධත්වයකට උරුමකම් කියනු ලබන රාජ්‍යයක් බව අතීතයේ සිට ඉතා ප්‍රචලිත කරුණකි. කෙසේ වුවද, දැනට දශක කිහිපයකට පෙර සිට සීඝ්‍රයෙන් වැඩිවෙමින් පවතින සංවර්ධන ව්‍යාපෘතීන් මඟින් ස්වභාවික පරිසර පද්ධතීන් වෙත සිදු කරනු ලබන බලපෑම සුළුපටු නොවේ. 1992 පරිසරය හා සංවර්ධනය පිලිබඳ රියෝ සම්මුතියේ 4 වන ව්‍යවස්ථාව මඟින් දක්වනුයේ,
List of References Abbreviations: PAA – Project Approving Agency Guidance for Implementing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Process: No. 3 – Public Participation Handbook – 1998 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_bpQn2xIQDhidJUx-Fw5wYMVNoJR9Gdd/view) Image credits: Sean Oulashin on Unsplash.
By: Chamindri Liyanage Photo by J.I.R. Figueroa on Unsplash According to the Sri Lankan law, all development projects that are prescribed under the law are required to obtain prior approval from the relevant Project Approving Agency (PAA), upon submitting an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) report or an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The purpose of carrying out an IEE or an EIA report is to ensure that the particular project is sustainable and all
By: Piyumi Wattuhewa Passing legislations enabling the provisions of environmental conventions would pave the way for the better implementation of EIA procedures. The amount of international conventions constituting provisions relating to the environment and environmental protection is vast, especially when one considers the subject specific conventions as well as the regional and bilateral agreements that state parties enter into. Environmental Impact Assessment is often given effect in such agreements, though often not expressly; but can frequently
By: Kumudika Perera Public participation is a matter of a nation’s legal, political and administrative arrangements. It nurtures people’s democratic rights. Image Credits: MONGABAY and Cane Mario. EIA: The Guardian of Environs The National Environmental Act, No. 47 of 1980 as amended defines ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ (EIA) as a written, cost-benefit analysis of a predicted environmental project, containing a description of avoidable and unavoidable, adverse environmental effects the project would cause, the alternatives available and
By: Piyumi Wattuhewa EIAs evaluate development projects and activities. It considers the ramifications, both positive and negative, of projects even before the first stone is laid and the first tree is cut. Image source- https://unsplash.com/photos/UL23OjMTHXE As a developing country, Sri Lanka is the birthplace of many-a formidable development projects; from highways to expressways, from bridges to tunnels, from cities on land to cities on the sea, from hotels, to gyms, to malls, it is not a novelty that something
The Vidattaltivu Nature Reserve was gazetted in 2016. But within just one year of its declaration as a protected area, there are plans to degazette a 1000 ha area from its very centre for a fishery project that includes prawn farming; a fishery that has a history of failures in Sri Lanka and across Asia, while also resulting in the widespread destruction of mangroves. The National Aquaculture Development Authority (NAQDA) has developed a proposal for a 1000 ha Aquaculture Industrial Park
The decision to exclude coal from Sri Lanka’s Least Cost Long Term Generation Expansion Plan (LCLTGEP) 2018- 2037 by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka is not only a massive victory for the environment, but also a win for good governance in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s interest in building coal power capacity and establishing new power plants was a myopic and regressive in light of the global shift away from coal power, even in heavily industrialized countries such as China
