Affidavit filed by the Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam in the matter of news item titled "the last feral horses in India" appearing in Mongabay, November 5, 2024. The matter relates to the critically endangered status of feral horses in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park as well as of smuggling of these …
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) have launched a US $1.8 million project to help Sri Lanka expand its use of renewable energy sources, including wind, water and biomass, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions from thermal power. Much of Sri Lanka's domestic energy needs rely …
A recent analysis of the mean surface air temperature at 14 stations in Sri Lanka over the period 1961-90 carried out by T K Fernando and L Chandrapala of the country's Department of Meteorology has indicated an increase in the surface air temperature at the rate of 0.036
Total fertility rate (TFR) of Sri Lankan women is now estimated to be lower than that of their counterparts in some developed nations. TFR in Sri Lanka has fallen much faster than what was officially projected, reaching the targeted replacement level of 2.1 in 1993, almost eight years before the …
According to the recent surveys conducted in Colombo, Sri Lanka, more than 50 per cent of the city's population suffer from atmospheric pollution caused by carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide emitted mostly by the city's vehicles. The municipal council has advised the central environmental authority to take necessary …
The first private sector thermal power plant was commissioned recently in Colombo with the help of the government which added an additional 22.5 MW of power to Sri Lanka's national grid. Such efforts of the government is expected to reduce the country's over-dependence on hydro-power. Following the last year severe …
In Sri Lanka, a whale died even as army troops tried to rescue it. The whale was spotted in shallow waters near Colombo's Galle Face Hotel and volunteers swam in to push the animal into deeper waters when it appeared to have lost its bearings. Environmentalists who were at the …
Spraying of pesticides and insecticides in paddy fields has posed serious threats to several varieties of rare and attractive fresh water fish in Sabaragamuwa province of Sri Lanka. As paddy fields are close to the waterways, the chemicals reach these streams and rivers. The most beautiful variety of fresh water …
The civil war in Sri Lanka has taken its toll on the environment also. Millions of palmyrah trees have been destroyed in Sri Lanka's war-shattered northern province. Government officials say that about 2.5 million palmyrah trees have been felled by the army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, mainly …
Sri Lanka's premier medical agency has recommended immediate withdrawal of a vaccine imported from India and revaccinate over three million children. Doctors say that these children received substandard drugs imported from India. According to the Government Medical Officers' Association, the DPT vaccine used to immunise infants against diphtheria, tetanus and …
Sri Lankan police in Mirigama has filed a case against the management of the Walls Ice Cream for allegedly polluting the environment that has led to health hazards in the area. The Attanagalla court rejected the plea put forward on behalf of the accused company. Attanagalla Magistrate Iranganie Perera conducted …
The population of elephants in Sri Lanka is falling rapidly as its natural habitat is absorbed for agriculture. Wildlife conservation officials say that the island which had about 12,000 elephants in 1900, now has only 2,500 elephants. This year in the northwest province alone, some 18 elephants have been killed. …
TETU LAKDA (Nothatodytes Foetida) a tree found in the rain forests of south India and Sri Lanka is facing a threat from international traders because of its medicinal properties. The extract of this tree is used to make cancer-fighting drugs in Europe. According to a recent World Bank report, twigs …
With the southwestern monsoon arriving in full force, reports from coastal towns along the 160-km stretch from Colombo to Matara indicate that sea erosion has begun taking its seasonal heavy toll on land, plantations and buildings. The worst affected areas are said to be Panadura, Beruwala, Kalamulla, Kalutara, Kasgoda, Ahungalla, …
The recently published Annual Health Bulletin of the ministry of health in Sri Lanka has highlighted the debilitating effect of poisoning in the island. In 1995, there were 62,973 cases of poisoning in state hospitals, pesticides topping the list of agents that were responsible for poisoning. In the seven districts …
In an unprecedented lawsuit filed against the government of Sri Lanka by five infants aged between two-and-a-half months and two years, the Supreme Court recently ordered the operators of a private power plant to close down its generators from 10 pm to six am. The petition filed by the infants' …
Farmers in Sri Lanka are up in arms against low-priced agricultural imports from India that have flooded the country's markets. After prolonged protest campaigns against the duty-free potato and chilli imports from India, the government of the island nation has imposed a 10 per cent levy on chillies. This, however, …
An allocation of Rs 15.5 million has been made by the government of Sri Lanka to rehabilitate 93 minor irrigation projects in the Attanagalla electorate. A team of technical officers headed by the western provincial minister of irrigation, Sarath Keerthiratna, visited prospective areas in Attanagalla. He was surveying field canals …
Experts in this island nation are of the opinion that air pollution from industries and oil refineries should be closely monitored to establish any adverse effects on crops and vegetation, animals and groundwater. Taking cue from an article by V Basanayake, general president of the Sri Lanka Association for the …
Sri Lanka's minister of public administration, recently announced a new health insurance scheme which promises Rs 3,000 and six month's maternity leave to state-employed women. The proposal immediately faced flak from family planners, whose programmes have brought down the country's birth rate to 1.4 per cent. "We cannot take chances …
