The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) has been instructed yesterday by the Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera to designate river conservation zones for all rivers in the island with immediate effect.

He also instructed to take action to eject the dwellers who are currently occupying the lands along the river banks and ensure they do not engage in any construction or cultivation activities at least 150 meters from a river and also to relocate them along the river basins as alternative locations.

“The network that covers the entire rivers is the basic drainage pattern of our country, which is in danger of being destroyed in a few years due to the exploitation of river water, and therefore, the Environment Ministry has decided to put in place a programme to designate river protection zones immediately,” the Minister said.

“The extent of river basins in our country is from 10 to 10,000 sq. km. The rivers in our country provide a large spring system.

 1,544 water sources or fountains have been identified in the Nuwara Eliya District, 204 in Kandy, 19 in Kurunegala, 210 in Moneragala and 2 in the Matale Districts.

 The Minister of Environment said these protected areas also need to be safeguarded as designated water sources. No river has been demarcated as a river conservation zone so far, and sevaral people are occupying the lands adjacent to the river and have constructed residential, business premises and using them for cultivational activities. It is learnt that the river banks are in danger of breaking up and thereby would cause damage to public lives as well as property," Minister Amaraweera said.

He instructed the CEA officials to collect more data on all river basins in the country, pointing out that many are engaged in illegal activities and destroy river conservation lands. Such activities were recorded and the CEA has identified that there are more than 10,700 locations that have been destroyed in and adjacent to the rivers alone.

There are 103 rivers in the river network in Sri Lanka. The majority of these rivers originate from the central hills and the rest are from various sources. But so far no river conservation zones were demarcated to protect the network in our country. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)