Stalled: BoI project to acquire Muthurajawela land for electric rail line from BIA to Colombo

A move by the Board of Investment (BOI) to obtain 150 acres of land from the Muthurajawela Sanctuary was rejected by the Department of Wildlife Conservation as it violated environmental laws, Parliament was informed yesterday.

“The BOI submitted a project proposal to the Wildlife Department seeking approval to obtain 150 acres from Muturajawela Sanctuary for a project for constructing an express electric railway line from the Bandaranaike International Airport , Katunayaka to Negombo and up to Colombo and also for associated development activities,” Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena said.

However, for the implementation of this project, about 600 acres of marshy lands within the Muthurajawela sanctuary would have had to be filled and this would have been harmful to the conservation of bio-diversity and the environmental balance of this wetland, he said.

Hence the Wildlife Department had informed the project proponent that this could not be allowed in terms of the provisions of the Fauna and Flora Ordinance.

The minister submitted this reply to Parliament yesterday in response to a question raised by Galle District MP Ajith Kumara. When the MP asked the name of the company which had sought to undertake the project, Minister Gunawardena said that the name would be submitted to the relevant consultative committee.

The total extent of the Muthurajawela sanctuary is 1028.62 hectares and there are 192 identified species of plants in it. It is also home to several endemic species of fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, the minister told the House.