1,000 Acres of illegally seized land in Puttalam District targeted for reclamation

The Department of Forest Conservation has initiated to recover as many as 1,000 acres of land - 50 per cent of located in environmentally sensitive areas like mangroves - grabbed by various individuals in the Puttalam District, Daily Mirror learns.

These lands declared under the Forest Conservation Ordinance had been grabbed by some people with political blessings during the period between 2009 and 2018. The department has already recovered 350 acres of them. Daily Mirror learns some such lands are used today by some people for salt farming.

Investigations are now in progress under Deputy Forest Conservator Lalith Gamage for the recovery of these lands in terms of the Forest Lands (Recovery of Possessions) Act. (KB)