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Mangroves cleared in Kirinda 

11 Sep 2020

  • Police arrest suspects 
By Sarah Hannan A 30-acre mangrove was illegally cleared in Tissamaharama’s Vilamulla area, which was discovered by the residents of the area who promptly alerted the Kirinda Police, recently. Kirinda Police Officer in Charge (OIC) M.L.B. Ranjith and his team had visited the site and had been able to take the suspected businessman who was clearing the land area into custody and ceased the JCB land mower that was used for the job, whilst they were clearing closer to 30 acres of mangrove from the lagoon area. “When we arrived at the site, we witnessed several mangrove piles that were cleared from the area. Just after the 2004 tsunami, there was a mangrove cultivation project that was initiated to conserve the coastline of Vilamulla,” OIC Ranjith noted. Further, investigations carried out by the Kirinda Police had uncovered that the suspected businessman was clearing the area to expand his tourist hotel project. The area is rich in biodiversity and is home to a variety of birds and vertebrates and is a popular tourist attraction that is frequented by bird watching enthusiasts. Meanwhile, the residents of the area had raised concerns that not enough attention is given to the area by the relevant authorities or environmentalists, and will therefore soon be destroyed by persons who have earmarked the area for development work, without proper impact assessments.


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