• Residents recount disaster as authorities examine development on hill
• Official reports, field inspections point to long-standing risk
• Trust governance, environmental oversight, safety concerns in focus
• Sequence of approvals and omissions emerges after Cyclone Ditwah

“I was sitting right here when our dog suddenly started barking,” said A.U. Leelawathi, an elderly resident of Sinhapitiya in Gampola, pointing to a corner of what was once her living room.

Sinhapitiya village lies below Ambuluwawa Hill, home to the Ambuluwawa Tower and Biodiversity Complex. Leelawathi spoke from inside her partially destroyed house, which once had three bedrooms. Nearly half the structure has been washed away by a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall, with soil and large rocks cascading down from the hill above.

“It was raining heavily, and the dog was behaving strangely,” she recalled. “I even scolded it. Then my daughter, who lives next door, called and told me to leave the house because we could hear the sound of rushing water.”

Moments after she stepped outside, the hillside gave way. “Within seconds, a massive surge of water carrying large trees and rocks came down. I was dragged away and badly injured. My legs were seriously hurt. If not for the dog’s warning, I don’t know how I would have survived that night,” she said, her voice breaking.

Ancestral lands and unnatural debris

Speaking to The Sunday Morning during a field visit to the landslide-affected areas around Ambuluwawa Hill, Leelawathi, along with her son and daughter, said the rocks and uprooted trees that crashed into their home appeared to have come from higher up the hill and did not belong to the surrounding terrain.

“These are our ancestral lands. Our family has lived here for more than 150 years,” she said. “We have never experienced anything like this. The entire area was buried under massive rocks and trees.”

Her daughter said that the family believed the disaster was triggered by water overflowing from a lake at the top of Ambuluwawa Hill, causing rockfalls rather than a conventional landslide.

“There were no prior issues with this land, and there are no constructions here,” she said. “What happened was a rockfall from above. We still don’t know how it happened, and we have received no explanation from the authorities.”

Residents maintain that the destruction was not primarily caused by Cyclone Ditwah, but by large granite rocks dislodged from the upper slopes of Ambuluwawa Hill. They allege the rocks had been piled or discarded during construction activities without adequate safety measures and gave way under heavy rain. Leelawathi and her family have since returned to what remains of their home, living amid uncertainty and fear of further collapse.

Signs of instability

When a group of journalists visited the area a few days following Cyclone Ditwah last year, clear signs of soil erosion and rock displacement were visible along the upper slopes. Residents said debris had surged into their homes during the downpour, leaving widespread destruction in its wake. Large cracks were observed at several points along the access road. In some locations, the ground had separated by approximately two to three inches. 

A section of earth had also collapsed along the road leading towards the spice garden. Soil that had fallen onto the road near the Ambuluwawa entrance following the collapse of an embankment was seen being transported by lorry and dumped at the landslide site along the spice garden road. 

Further along the route, multiple ground fissures were visible at several locations. Residents said villages were located directly downhill from these unstable sections of land. 

This is not the first time concerns have been raised about the risks faced by communities living around Ambuluwawa Hill. Reports issued by the Auditor General between 2010 and 2024 have repeatedly flagged serious safety and environmental concerns linked to activities at the Ambuluwawa site, including the proposed cable car project.

Establishment of the trust fund

The Ambuluwawa Watta land in Ambuluwawa was originally acquired on the basis that it was required for a village expansion project. In this regard, the late D.M. Jayaratne, who was serving as Minister of Agriculture and Lands at the time, issued an order on 9 January 1998 under Section 38(a) of the Land Acquisition Act. The order was published in Extraordinary Gazette No.1009/16. 

Subsequently, on 29 June 1998, Jayaratne, in his capacity as Minister of Agriculture, submitted a Cabinet paper proposing the development of the Ambuluwawa hilltop as a recreational park. Cabinet approval was granted, and on 1 September 2000, the Ambuluwawa Environmental Development and Conservation Trust Fund was established.

Thereafter, on 3 July 2001, Jayaratne submitted another Cabinet paper seeking approval to vest the relevant lands in the Ambuluwawa Environmental Development and Conservation Trust Fund. Cabinet approval was granted for this proposal as well. 

Citing powers under Section 23(2) of the State Lands Ordinance, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga transferred the relevant lands to the Public Trustee on behalf of the trust fund on 24 September 2001. The conditions of the free grant issued in this regard were also incorporated. 

In 2009, the trust fund was incorporated through the Ambuluwawa Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Jayaratne Religious Centre and Biodiversity Complex Trust Fund Act No.44 of 2009. The bill was presented by Jayaratne himself. Under the act, Jayaratne was appointed Chairperson of the Board of Trustees and retained the authority to appoint seven of the remaining nine members. 

Section 16 of the act further provided that upon his death, his son would succeed to the position, followed thereafter by the eldest male descendant in the family line. Parliament passed the legislation without calling for a division. At the time, however, the United National Party (UNP) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) opposed the act. 

In keeping with these provisions, the current Chairperson of the trust fund is MP Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Anuradha Lanka Pradeep Jayaratne.

Auditor General’s revelations

The fund was established by statute in 2009. In the first year following its establishment, an audit conducted by the Auditor General’s Department in 2010 recorded the Auditor General’s opinion that the fund’s financial activities did not present a true and fair view in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

The most recent published Auditor General’s report for the financial year 2024 also highlights extensive non-compliance with statutory requirements, significant accounting weaknesses, and operational lapses linked to major construction activities, including the proposed cable car project and works involving stone and timber.

According to the report, the trust fund has failed to establish an approved organisational structure or formal recruitment procedures, in violation of Act No.44 of 2009. Numerous constructions, including the office complex, tourist bungalow, restaurant, and tower, have been carried out without obtaining approval from the Gampola Urban Council, contrary to the Urban Councils Ordinance.

The audit identified further mismanagement relating to physical works and geological risks. More than Rs. 10.3 million had been spent on carving a stone Buddha statue, constructing car parks, and implementing a ‘treetop project’ without feasibility studies, approved plans, or cost estimates. These projects had been abandoned midway in 2022 and had not resumed by the end of 2024. 

In relation to a crack that had developed along the tower access road, the fund had paid Rs. 75,000 to a civil engineer before obtaining the mandatory assessment from the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO). Subsequent commissioning of the NBRO report rendered the earlier payment ineffective, with the audit describing it as a fruitless expense. 

The report also flagged weaknesses in timber management. Although more than Rs. 1 million had been spent on timber obtained from felled pine trees, Rs. 711,890 of this amount had been incorrectly recorded as a theatre expense rather than inventory. In addition, 7,015 long feet of remaining timber had neither been assessed nor accounted for at the end of the financial year. 

The fund was also found to have spent Rs. 320,000 to transport precast blocks from Kaduwela despite similar materials being readily available in Kandy, resulting in uneconomic expenditure. 

Governance shortcomings featured prominently in the audit. The Board of Trustees met only six times during 2024, despite a statutory requirement to meet at least once a month. 

It should be noted that the Auditor General has also referred to large stocks of abandoned rocks that were intended for construction work on the hill.

The cable car project controversy

The audit raised serious concerns over the proposed Rs. 1.2 billion cable car project, finding that an agreement had been entered into with a private company without calling for competitive tenders. The selected company had been incorporated just six days after the Board of Trustees approved the decision.

According to the Hansard, plans for a cable car at Ambuluwawa were first disclosed on 22 July 2009 by the late D.M. Jayaratne. However, public announcements branding it as Sri Lanka’s first cable car project emerged only in 2023. In January that year, a tender notice was published on the official Ambuluwawa website inviting bids for the construction and operation of the project, along with a 13-year lease of the premises.

The tender conditions stated that the successful bidder would bear the full cost of the project, with no reimbursement from the trust fund, and that the project would be handed over to the Ambuluwawa Trust at the end of the lease period.

However, the Auditor General reported that 16% of the project cost was to be borne by the Ambuluwawa Trust Fund, directly contradicting the tender conditions published on 1 January 2023. The audit further noted that although the Board of Trustees had decided on 10 June 2023 to hand over the project to a private entity, the agreement had been executed with a company incorporated only six days later, on 16 June 2023.

Questions of conflict of interest

The project was ultimately awarded to Amber Adventures Ltd. Official company records show that the firm was registered on 16 June 2023. However, incorporation documents indicate that its registration forms were submitted on 5 June 2023, five days before the Board of Trustees approved the project. If the dates cited in the Auditor General’s report are accurate, the company would have applied for registration prior to the formal decision from which it later benefited, raising serious questions about foreknowledge, conflict of interest, and procedural integrity. 

Amber Adventures was registered with four directors: Houng Yupin, Samarasinghe Herath Bandula Karunaratne, Jayasekara Mudiyanselage Senanayake Bandara, and Subasinghe Mudiyanselage Suresh Deepal Subasinghe. One of these Directors, J.M. Senanayake Bandara, is a serving member of the Ambuluwawa Board of Trustees and is also listed as a shareholder of Amber Adventures. In addition, another Director of the company is the father-in-law of the Trust’s Chairperson, according to the company registration and information tabled by Minister of Environment Dammika Patabendi in Parliament in January.  

On top of these irregularities, a Right to Information (RTI) request sent to the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) by journalist Tharindu Jayawardhana revealed that the CEA had granted emergency approval for the Ambuluwawa cable car project in violation of Section 23BB of the National Environmental Act, with no newspaper notices published, no public representations called for, and no gazette notification issued. Despite 58 threatened species of fauna and flora being at risk, the Department of Wildlife Conservation had also not been consulted in the approval process.  

Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal in late 2025 issued a writ order preventing Udapalatha Divisional Secretary Athma Dilukshi Jayarathne from interfering with the construction of the Ambuluwawa cable car project, following a petition by Amber Adventures against obstructions. 

However, after Cyclone Ditwah, directives have been issued to halt all construction activities at Ambuluwawa Hill, including those related to the cable car project, until a formal report is obtained from experts on the potential risks and hazardous conditions in the area.

The Grama Niladhari report

On 3 October 2024, former Acting Grama Niladhari of Sinhapitiya North Prasanna Jagath Godamunna submitted a report to the Udapalatha Divisional Secretary, warning of a potentially major disaster arising from construction activities at Ambuluwawa. The report followed an anonymous complaint regarding irregular and hazardous excavation and dumping of soil and rock. After conducting a field inspection, Godamunna documented his findings. 

“It was observed that, in the Ambuluwawa Watta and Udasinhapitiya Watta, where the third pylon of this project is being constructed, a large foundation has been built and nearly 1,000 cubic metres of soil have been irregularly and unsafely dumped between two hillocks and along steep slopes on either side,” the report states. “As a result, a serious risk situation may arise along the access route of the garbage dump landslide that occurred in 2016 along the Ambuluwawa Estate–Ganethenna Road, as well as towards Bowala Galwala Road, Ambuluwawa, Rathmalkaduwa, and Udasinhapitiya.” 

Godamunna warned that the unstable mound of soil could trigger landslides on both sides of the hill during heavy rainfall, posing a threat to residents, road users, estate workers, and nearby water sources. The report further notes that during foundation excavation near the observation deck, where the first pylon is being constructed, large quantities of soil and rock has been dumped along a rocky outcrop on a steep slope. “As a result, a risk situation exists for the Gampola–Hemmathagama main road and the Ambuluwawa Watta Kade,” it states, adding that residents, road users, and estate workers face potential danger. 

Following submission of the report, Udapalatha Divisional Secretary Jayarathne informed several institutions, including the CEA, NBRO, and Natural Resources Management Centre. With their participation, a field visit was conducted on 16 December 2024. 

Following further rainfall in December 2024, the Divisional Secretary and other officials revisited the summit of Ambuluwawa Hill and observed ongoing risks of rockfalls, soil erosion, and landslides affecting lower-lying villages. These observations were reported in the media at the time.

Legal and procedural concerns

It was against this backdrop that a meeting was convened by Environment Minister Patabendi at the Udapalatha Divisional Secretariat on Wednesday (4). Residents, officials, and environmental advocates presented what they described as decades of administrative failure, unlawful development, and escalating human risk at Ambuluwawa. 

Geetha Malkanthi, a land officer and lawyer, said that the lands surrounding Ambuluwawa had been originally acquired by the State under Section 38 intermediate provisions for village expansion, but had later been redirected to the Ambuluwawa project through a process she said raised serious legal and procedural concerns.

She said Cabinet approval had been granted to allocate 98.7 hectares to the Department of Wildlife Conservation and 91.71 hectares to the Ambuluwawa Biodiversity Complex Trust Fund. In 2001, a free grant (‘nidahas deemana pathraya’) was issued to the Public Trustee on behalf of the foundation for an extent of 112.6149 hectares.

According to Malkanthi, the grant spans both districts: 80.81 hectares in the Kandy District, within the Udapalatha and Ganga Ihala Korale divisions, and 28.98 hectares in the Kegalle District, under Mawanella. She said a key irregularity was that the free grant had been issued without amending the original purpose of acquisition – village expansion – and that the extent granted exceeded Cabinet approval.

She said that the Divisional Secretary had recorded violations of the grant conditions – concerns echoed by other departments – prompting the Auditor General to recommend its cancellation. A subsequent discussion at the Ministry of Environment, she said, had resulted in a recommendation to take steps to void the grant. “Land acquired to be distributed among local residents was instead diverted for this project,” she said.

Malkanthi also said that the free grant had been prepared as a single document covering both districts and registered at the Gampola Land Registry, while the Kegalle portion had not been registered there. She pointed to a specific clause stating that unauthorised granite or soil mining without approval would render the grant null and void, adding that audit reports for 2020 and 2021 had already documented such mining and mineral removal.

Cross-district jurisdictional disputes

According to Mawanella Divisional Secretary Vijani Rathnasekara, while the Udapalatha Divisional Secretariat carries the larger administrative responsibility related to Ambuluwawa, she remains a key stakeholder because a portion of the land falls within the Kegalle District and downstream impacts from instability on the mountain are felt most acutely in Mawanella.

Rathnasekara noted that land acquisition in her division began in 1999 under the stated purpose of village expansion. Around 28.6 hectares fall within Mawanella, while Udapalatha accounts for a much larger extent of about 111 hectares.

Reviewing the process jointly with the Udapalatha Divisional Secretary, she said that they had observed that land mandates and gazettes appeared to have been issued with unusual speed. “These processes usually take several months, but here they were gazetted rapidly,” she said. She added that legal and administrative gaps remain unresolved in Mawanella, including portions of land where compensation had not been paid and legal possession had not been transferred to the State, leaving the land unregistered.

Rathnasekara added that a free grant had been issued in March 2003 based on a 2000 survey that combined lands from both divisions, but without consultation with her office.

She said that when the cable car project commenced, a tower had been placed on land within the Mawanella division before her office was informed. An attempt had later been made to register the lease in Gampola, but the Kegalle Land Registrar had intervened. “Land in the Kegalle District cannot be registered in Gampola,” she said, adding that she had refused authorisation as her office had not been part of the free grant process.

Rathnasekara said she was now facing litigation in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal arising from those refusals. She also said a ‘pooja bhumi’ (sacred place) gazette had been issued in 2014 without a recommendation from the Divisional Secretary, further complicating the legal position. “Officially, the purpose of the acquisition has shifted from its original objective,” she said. “While the peak lies in Udapalatha, the impact of rockfalls and landslides is felt directly in Mawanella. Residents remain terrified.”

She said that a previous attempt to construct a tank near the Mawanella road had been halted following public protest due to the absence of proper standards. While stressing that she was not opposed to tourism, Rathnasekara said that development on State land should be treated as a State investment and managed through official mechanisms. “We proposed that instead of directing funds into a private account, the site should be managed by the tourism department or the relevant ministry,” she said.

Rathnasekara also cited recent technical assessments, saying NBRO inspections had identified 26 houses in Sinhapitiya North and Godagama as high-risk and requiring evacuation. “When assessing landslide risk, we consider the entire danger path, regardless of divisional boundaries,” she said.

Residents speak out

Residents affected by the disaster spoke with grief and anger.

For Shamindra Karunasinghe, the memory remains sharp. His wife, Mallika Thembuwana Arachchi, a teacher at Jinaraja Boys’ College, left home around 8 a.m. for an extra class and returned by 11.30 a.m., drenched in the rain. By evening, with the downpour continuing, the family stayed in. Around 9 p.m., as they sat drinking tea, she said she could smell fresh earth.

Minutes later, a sound like crashing boulders broke the silence. Glass shattered in the back rooms. As his wife opened the front door, a powerful surge of water, mud, and debris slammed into the house, sweeping her away. Karunasinghe and his son were dragged with her before logs wedged against a small embankment briefly held them. A second wave then flung the three in different directions.

Karunasinghe was carried dozens of metres down the road before clinging to a concrete post. “If I hadn’t held on, I would have been taken to the Jinaraja Boys’ College playground,” he said.

He searched through the night amid floodwater, boulders, and uprooted trees – debris he said had never existed in the area before. By morning, his son was found alive. His wife was later found buried among rocks and branches near the school playground. “If warnings about dumping soil and rocks on the mountain had been taken seriously, my wife would still be alive,” he said.

Their home is now uninhabitable. Karunasinghe and his son remain displaced and are living with a friend.

Another survivor, Nilanga Punchihewa, said that on 27 November 2025, he, his wife, and mother were swept away by a torrent from the hill. He sustained fractures to his leg, requiring nine pins and a metal plate, and has been unable to work for three months. “I have three children. It has been very difficult,” he said, urging the Government to take over and properly maintain Ambuluwawa to protect nearby homes.

Saliya Dissanayake, an activist and resident representative, said that villagers across several Grama Niladhari divisions under the Ganga Ihala Korale Divisional Secretariat had been affected. “These communities are not victims of their own actions,” he said. “This happened due to unscientific development, environmental destruction, and the construction of tanks unsuited to a mountaintop.” He warned that if the current practices continued, around 5,000 residents could lose their homes, while nearly 4,000 students in nearby schools would be affected.

Shakila Kamalasena, representing Sinhapitiya, said large rocks and trees that had never been near residential areas came down from above during the landslide. Citing NBRO assessments, he said that some houses had been classified as high-risk and others as medium-risk. “Those in high-risk areas must move,” he said. “But if those in medium-risk areas remain, they may suffer the same fate. I ask the authorities to act for everyone.”

Ministerial inspection

After the meeting, Minister Patabendi, along with officials and journalists, went on a field visit to Ambuluwawa Hill. He observed the area near the cable car tower construction site, Ambuluwawa Tower, and surrounding areas. 

The journalists who participated in the field visit observed that the debris they saw during the first field visit last year after the cyclone had now been cleared. 

Following the inspection, Patabendi told the media that during the visit, the Department of Wildlife Conservation had informed him that unauthorised constructions had taken place even on lands belonging to the department. It further stated that although the Divisional Secretariat had issued survey instructions several times to measure lands belonging to the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Survey Department had failed to carry out the measurements. 

At the same time, the Minister said that the Government would not halt economic investments arbitrarily, but would carefully examine public safety, environmental protection, and several related concerns. He said that a decision regarding Ambuluwawa would be taken after such assessments.  

Chairperson’s response

Ambuluwawa Trust Fund Chairman, MP Anuradha Jayaratne addressed concerns over the suspension of the cable car project, environmental safety, and allegations of instability at the site.

Jayaratne said that the visit followed the CEA directive to halt work on the cable car project, which he insisted was not responsible for environmental damage. He maintained that the project connected to the ground at only three locations and that no landslides had occurred at any of those points. He added that the recent cyclone demonstrated the mountain’s stability, noting that surrounding areas experienced landslides while Ambuluwawa remained unaffected.

Responding to allegations of falling rocks and the death of a teacher near Jinaraja Boys’ College, Jayaratne said the incident had occurred nearly 3 km below the complex and was not connected to the Ambuluwawa project. He stressed that no landslides or rockfalls had occurred within the trust’s operational boundaries.

Jayaratne further said that the trust worked closely with the NBRO and followed its technical guidance for all development activities. After the cyclone, the NBRO conducted a comprehensive field inspection covering the entire complex, including cable car locations and lower slopes. According to Jayaratne, NBRO officials had verbally confirmed that there were no stability concerns and advised the trust to continue operations.

According to him, the trust maintains safety monitoring mechanisms, including periodic structural assessments of the tower, and operates a digital financial system accessible to the Auditor General; development at Ambuluwawa is being carried out in line with State safety standards.