Date: 2022-10-03 Answered

2641/2022: DISPOSAL OF GARBAGE INTO RIVERS BY FACTORIES: PREVENTION

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Asked Date

2022-10-03

Asked by

Hon. (Mrs.) Rajika Wickramasinghe, M.P.

Ministry

Environment

Legislature

Ninth Parliament of the D.S.R. of Sri Lanka

Session

Third Session

Question History

Answer

(a)

(i) The Central Environmental Authority has reported that it is waste water treated in accordance with the standards of the Central Environmental Authority that is released into rivers by the factories in the vicinity of rivers.

Several government agencies work in relation to the regulation of activities associated with rivers and the Central Environmental Authority is one such institution.

It has been reported that the Central Environmental Authority controls instances of environmental pollution which occur due to industrial activities declared in Gazette Notification No. 2264/18 through the environmental protection licencing system and minimizes the environmental damage that can be caused in implementing projects specified by Gazette Notification No. 772/22 through the environmental impact assessment process.

Thus, waste matter/water generated from industrial activities declared by Gazette Notification No. 2264/18 needs to be disposed of in accordance with the specified standards while obtaining an Environmental Protection Licence, for it is a legal requirement. It is necessary in this connection to purify the industrial waste water generated by industrial activities so declared, up to the level declared by standards. The Central Environmental Authority has reported that the waste water thus purified should be released in accordance with the conditions of the Environmental Protection Licence.

The Central Environmental Authority has also reported that the waste water generated by factories and purified up to the level of the aforesaid standards are released into rivers/other reservoirs, which is allowed only after looking into the use of the respective river/reservoir and the volume so released.

(ii) The Central Environmental Authority has reported that no Environmental Protection Licences are issued for constructions and they are issued only for industrial activities which operate releasing waste matter/waste water according to the relevant standards.

The Central Environmental Authority has reported that approvals for building construction should be obtained from the local authorities and those activities are regulated by the laws and regulations of the respective local authority.

(b)

(i) The Central Environmental Authority has reported that the control of waste matter/waste water discharged by factories is carried out through the Environmental Protection Licensing process.

It has also been reported that a method of monitoring industrial activities, for which Environmental Protection Licences are issued, is in operation at the Central Environmental Authority and the Authority takes action to inform the relevant industrial party to rectify the shortcomings in the disposal of waste matter/waste water identified further through the monitoring process and the Authority follows up on the completion of such rectification.

(ii) The Central Environmental Authority has reported that a considerable number of factories have been located close to rivers and the details of the industries established in close proximity to rivers in several areas are given below:

- 1,200 factories have been identified in the 500-metre buffer zone of the Kelani River within the Districts of Colombo and Gampaha.

- 22 factories which generate waste water have been identified in the vicinity of the Nilwala River and the river named Polwathumodara Ganga in the Matara District while seven factories which generate waste water have been identified in the vicinity of the river named Polathu Ganga in the Galle District.

- 36 factories generating waste water in the vicinity of the Badulu Oya, Uma Oya and the Mahaweli River in the Badulla District and eight factories generating waste water in the areas close to Kumbukkan Oya, Kirindi Oya and the Walawe Ganga in the Monaragala District have been identified.

(iii) The Central Environmental Authority has reported that measures such as cancellation of the Environmental Protection Licence and filing legal action have been taken against factories which dispose of waste matter/waste water into reservoirs associated with rivers, violating relevant standards, criteria and specifications.

As such, the Central Environmental Authority has reported that it has taken legal action against nearly 60 factories located close to rivers and that it has made arrangements to file cases against factories which do not comply with the laws and regulations of the Authority.

Answered Date

2022-12-13

Answered by

Hon. Naseer Ahamed, M.P.