• Regardless of whether affected fams. owned larger land plots prior to Ditwah
• Exact land extent in urban areas and safe zones yet to be decided  

The Land Ministry stated that when resettling families who lost land and housing due to Cyclone Ditwah, the Government will have to allocate a uniform extent of land for settlement, even in cases where the affected families previously owned much larger plots.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the Deputy Land Minister, Aravinda Senarath said that no final decision has yet been taken on the exact size of land to be allocated, as discussions are still ongoing. He explained that in districts such as Badulla, large tracts of privately owned land was destroyed by landslides, in some cases extending over an acre.

“When families who lived on such large plots are resettled using land from urban areas or safe zones, it will not be practical to provide land of the same size that they previously occupied. Some families may have lived on very large extents of land in the past. However, when the State provides land, it will not be possible to match those extents. Our intention is to do this in a way that is as fair as possible to the affected people," he said.

The Ministry also revealed recently the relevant institutions have already been instructed to identify plots that could be used to resettle people who lost both land and housing due to Ditwah, and to submit the required details to the Ministry. Government-owned lands under institutions such as the Land Reclamation and Development Corporation, the Land Reforms Commission, and the Mahaweli Authority are being considered for this purpose.

Ditwah caused widespread damage across several parts of the country, destroying homes, inundating farmland, and displacing thousands of families. In response, the Government has proposed a series of measures, including compensation for damaged and destroyed houses, the allocation of State land for families who lost both land and housing, and the construction of new housing schemes.