Puttalam’s salt industry threatened by adverse climate change

Heavy rainfall has forced storm water into the Puttalam lagoon, changing the salt content in the water

Salt production for the last Yala and Maha seasons failed and it has compelled the country to import salt from India

Puttalam has been a main salt producing area that meets 45 percent of the country’s requirement of salt

The salt industry in Sri Lanka dates back to ancient times and is as old as agriculture industry in Sri Lanka. Puttalam has been a main salt producing area that meets 45 percent of the country’s requirement of salt. 

However, the salt industry in Puttalam has been endangered due to the ongoing climatic changes in the area much to the anxiety of tens and thousands of people depending on it as their livelihood.

Puttalam and the salt industry have been interwoven for centuries as household words. Statistically more than 20,000 families have been directly or indirectly engaging in the industry, which spreads over an area of more than 4000 hectares in Puttalam, Kalpitiya, Wanathawilluwa and Mundalama divisions in the Puttalam district. 

People depending on the salt industry expressed concern about the ongoing climatic changes in the district that affected the industry. They pointed out that the Puttalam district had been an arid zone receiving intense heat of the sun throughout the year but it had signaled a change of climate similar to that of the wet zone since long. They pointed out that the environmental conditions now experienced were not conducive to the salt industry. 

President of Puttalam Salt Producers Association Rameez Badurdeen said Sri Lanka requires around 125,000 metric tons and the Puttalam district supplies 45 percent of it. He pointed out that the production has been declining since 2023 according to statistics by private salt manufacturers. 

A leading salt manufacturer in Sri Lanka and the owner of Hiru Salt Manufactory Niluk Dilhan said that heavy rainfall experienced in the area has been a threat to the salt industry. He pointed out that continuous rainfall had resulted in the flow of storm water into the Puttalam lagoon reducing the ratio of salt in water. 

“This has endangered the salt industry in Puttalam. It has signalled the decline for several years. More than 20,000 families that depended on the salt industry through direct or indirect employment are facing loss of livelihoods. The Puttalam district had virtually been a parched region and the climate was conducive for the salt manufacturing. However this had gradually changed over the past several years. Heavy rainfall has been experienced during the appropriate season for salt manufacturing. We are not accusing anyone for this natural phenomenon. But a scientific method should be worked out to meet that challenge or else the centuries old salt industry in the country would be in danger,” Dilhan warned. 

“Salt production for the last Yala and Maha seasons failed and it has compelled the country to import salt from India at a colossal expenditure of foreign exchange. But there is no match for salt manufactured in Puttalam. If the weather conditions permitted we will be able to supply fresh stocks of salt in February 2025. The available stocks are sufficient only for two weeks,” he added. 

Mohamed Aniz, an employee engaged in the salt industry said that it was with great difficulty that they invested in it. He expressed concern about heavy rainfall and how it had impacted the salt manufacturing process. 

Salterns in Puttalam, Karamba, Palaviya, Kalpitiyia, Wanathawilluwa, Karaitivu, and Madurankuliya areas that have been filled with storm water have been abandoned giving a clear indication about the collapsing salt industry in Puttalam and the predicament faced by people who depend on it as their only livelihood.