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Easing sand mining restrictions imperils Gal Oya bridge
View(s):Text and pix by Wasantha Chandrapala
A controversial decision by the current government to reduce restrictions for sand mining around the Gal Oya bridge is posing a risk to the bridge.
A decision was taken 15 years ago to maintain a buffer zone of two kilometres to prevent any sand mining in the area, but the restricted area has been reduced to one kilometre, raising questions about the decision.
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The Iginiyagala Senanayake tank was opened on August 28, 1953. With the start of the Gal Oya movement, the main road system in the Ampara District was also built, and the Gal Oya bridge was one of three main bridges.
After 72 years, the Gal Oya River is facing a serious threat. The dams on either side of the Gal Oya River are being illegally flattened to expand paddy fields, and the Gal Oya River is being dredged to extract sand, which has created a dangerous situation.
Since this situation affected the Gal Oya Bridge, in 2010, the then Ampara District Secretary Sunil Kannagara, along with the Irrigation Department, the Road Development Authority, the Central Environment Authority, and the Geology and Mines Bureau, prohibited sand mining up to two kilometres upstream and downstream from the Gal Oya Bridge.
Following this decision, all permits issued near the Gal Oya Bridge were cancelled.
As a result, the Gal Oya Bridge survived the 2011 floods. But today, the banks of the Gal Oya River have been severely damaged from the uncontrolled sand mining.
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Due to mismanagement of Gal Oya River sand mining permits, the banks of the river have been damaged, and some embankments and roads have collapsed into the Gal Oya River.
Despite this, the current government decided at a meeting of the Ampara District Coordination Committee to reduce the two-kilometre limit on either side of the Gal Oya River to a kilometre.
Representatives of farmer groups say that the reason for doing so is to support the Agricultural Cooperative Society, which was set up to engage in sand smuggling by a group that helped the current government to come to power.
But the Gal Oya Bridge has begun to deteriorate. So far, the foundations of five of the columns on which the Gal Oya Bridge was built have been exposed. Two of the columns have been torn apart. People also say that the Gal Oya Bridge shakes slightly when large, heavy trucks pass by.
The sand accumulated in the Gal Oya River also needs to be removed. This is done by the Irrigation Department. The Irrigation Department identifies those locations and issues a tender for the removal of sand. While the Ampara Irrigation Engineering Office was ready to identify such places and announce a tender, the Ampara Sand Association, with the support of politicians, has demanded a halt to this.
Accordingly, the Geology and Mines Bureau has been working to reduce illegal sand mining in Gal Oya to one square kilometre and hand over the accumulated sand to the cooperative society.
The Ampara Geological Survey Office has accepted money from 29 people for sand permits.
Representatives of the farmer groups say that the money was accepted without the recommendations of other institutions, including the Grama Niladhari, for those permits.
The imperiled Gal Oya bridge: At least five pillars are at risk, with cracks clearly visible on the cemented surface
Ampara Shasanarakshaka Bala Mandala Secretary and Deputy Principal of Namal Oya College, Venerable Gampaha Narada Thero, incumbent of Namalnalawa Sailambarama Viharaya, said the Gal Oya bridge is under threat.
The suspect suspects there is money to be made in permits.
Ampara Irrigation Director Wasanna Kumara said: We have been experiencing damage to the banks of the Gal Oya River due to sandbanks in several places. Later, we investigated this and took basic measures to remove sand deposits. The Ampara Sand Association agreed to undertake the removal of the sand.’’
M.I. Nahibuddin, chief engineer of the Ampara Road Development Authority, said six pillars have been exposed in the Gal Oya Bridge and mining cannot be allowed. The head office has been informed.
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