Foolproof blueprint leaves villagers jaded | Daily News
Aruwakkalu landfill

Foolproof blueprint leaves villagers jaded

Pictures by Chaminda Niroshana
Pictures by Chaminda Niroshana

Lincoln’s feet looked grubby from the many hours spent wading in shallow waters. His mismatched beani did little to prevent the sun from making his red eyes twitch. You could tell by the lines of weariness on his sun-burnt face that he was tired, and yet, it was only noon.

“I’m tired of fighting for this cause,” he says as he guides us past a man-made 200 metre path of decimated trees framed by forest on either side. The shrivelled up remains of the branches crack beneath our feet. Lincoln beckons us to what’s left on a path of copper-red loamy soil, adding that the new neighbours were “wreaking havoc.” “We’re doing this for our children. We experienced what it was like to be fooled and now face the consequences of the Norochcholai power plant. We don’t want our children to experience the same.”


Pictures by Chaminda Niroshana

The trail opens up to the Puttalam Lagoon, vast and grey under an overcast sky, mirroring the sombre mood of the villagers. The village of Seerakkuli is hidden from view, so out of sight that the villagers say officials “pretend like it doesn’t exist.” “There are 250 people here,” says a 25-year-old Sirimal as he fidgets with a pair of black beads and bands on his wrist. “There are another 2,500 on the other side of the lagoon.”

“We never abandoned this lagoon,” Lincoln chips in religiously. “Even at the height of the war when we knew we could have been sieged, we never deserted this place. This is the first time in over 30 years that we may be kicked out.”

Within minutes, villagers, most of whom were men, begin protesting at the construction site of the Aruwakkalu landfill as the women and children watch curiously from afar. They were afraid they would be arrested for trespassing on the site, the same grounds on which a Christian priest and Muslim moulavi were arrested a week before.

Sirimal argues that the villagers have concerns that the landfill may strip them of their livelihood. “We have every reason to believe the discharge from the waste into the lagoon will alter the toxicity,” he says, pointing to an area where water from the lagoon was seeping into the drain at the site. “This is a fishing village and any change in the lagoon will make it difficult for people. Coconut plantations have already been razed to the ground as you would have seen on your way.”

Lincoln says they have requested officials and the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry through the divisional secretariat for a meeting, but neither has been forthcoming. “On September 27, we were promised we would be given the opportunity to make our voices heard. That day is yet to dawn. Why aren’t they giving us the time of day?” he questions.

Mounting problems

Sri Lanka’s waste management issues came to a head in April last year when the Meethotamulla garbage dump collapsed. The incident claimed the lives of 32 people while eight were reported missing. The tragedy underscored the urgency of a solution for waste disposal in Colombo.

Successive governments in the past have made attempts to resolve this long-standing issue. In 1997, the government attempted to establish a landfill in Meepe with World Bank funding, but the project stalled due to stiff opposition. Ten years later, in 2017, the government decided to give it another go, and remains determined to go ahead. Only it was Aruwakkalu.

Aruwakkalu

The Metro Colombo Solid Waste Management (MCSWM) site in Aruwakkalu is a project by the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry, meant to provide a sustainable solution to the issue of haphazard open dumping in Colombo (Methotamulla).

Located 30 kilometres from Puttalam town and accessible through a three-kilometre road dividing the parched Wilpattu National Park, construction has been silently ongoing for the last six months. The present site is an abandoned lime quarry leased out to Holcim Lanka (INSEE).

The idea was first floated in August 2014. Since then, the process has been plagued with delays with two Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and several bidding processes. The project involves loading sorted municipal solid waste into sealed containers at a transfer station built in Kelaniya, to be transported by rail and unloaded at an engineering sanitary landfill site Aruwakkalu.

Estimated to cost US$ 274 million, the project is partly funded by the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank through a credit facility of US$ 115 million and the World Bank which will also grant US$ 115. The Sri Lankan government will foot a bill of US$ 44 million.

Although the paper trail for the project seems flawless, the Aruwakkalu site brings to the table a whole host of unseen issues. Ganewadiya, a village much further away from Aruwakkalu, was chosen as the location for a sanitary landfill under the previous administration.

The Environmental Impact Assessment and feasibility reports were ready by December 2014. However, the EIA was rejected in January 2016 as Ganewadiya was within the buffer zone of the Wilapattu National Park, a predetermined fact. The Wildlife Department insisted that the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance did not permit waste dumps in buffer zones.

This change in location remains a bone of contention among locals. “Ganewadiya is several kilometres away. We have no objections to that place, but this was shifted to Seerakkuli,” a dismayed Sirimal says. “When asked, we were told that officials from the Wildlife Department protested since it would have disastrous effects on the wildlife. What of us then?”

An EIA on Aruwakkalu highlights that the site is frequented by wild animals including elephants and warns that once garbage come in, it could aggravate the human–elephant conflict near the fishing village.

The EIA recommends steps to prevent animals from encroaching on the site, including erecting an electric fence and closing up the landfill on a daily basis. The EIA finds that there are several houses located in close vicinity of the site that are directly affected due to dumpsite operations and pollution.

Another document prepared by the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry seen by this newspaper finds that Aruwakkalu is a regenerated ecosystem over two decades old and an area where elephants have been observed to forage.

Specific safeguard measures have been recommended in the report to ensure any potential impacts to these sites are pre-identified and mitigated, to be in-built in to the safeguards instruments.

Political facet to project

Earlier last month, police had to use force to restrain a throng of protestors who had begun picketing at the construction site. Women and children were seen holding placards against the project. During the protest, glass panes of some of the buildings were damaged, while Chinese and local construction workers were hastily escorted out and equipment stored away. Tensions flared when the villagers said that authorities had refused to meet with them. During the ensuing protest, two religious leaders were arrested along with a SLPP member of the Wanathavilluwa Pradeshiya Sabha.

The state speaks

Engineer Jayavilal Fernando talks of the science and engineering aspect of the project as if he had rehearsed it many times before. “We’ve had many meetings with the same villagers who have spoken to you,” he says candidly. “We held several rounds of discussions and addressed their religious leaders,” he adds, as he points to photographs taken at every event.

“However, if there are villagers who want to meet us to understand the scope of this project better, we are more than willing to talk to them,” he says, adding that failure to do so would reflect badly on the part of the consortium heading the project.

Engineer Fernando is the project director of the Project Management unit, which is akin to the nerve centre. To date, they have conducted seven awareness programmes in the Wanathawillu Divisional Secretariat area, where they have spoken to over 400 participants.

By the looks of it, the project seems foolproof and leaves no room for leachate to drain into the storm water system inbuilt in the plant.

Although technical and complex in nature, if constructed well within the conformity of the guidelines, the project would have little or no impact on the surrounding areas and its neighbouring villages.

How far it will pan out in reality is yet to be seen.

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design and plan

The Aruwakkalu landfill was originally designed to be used for a period of 20 years with 33 hectares of a landfill height of 60m from ground level. No adequate buffer zone was provided between the Lunu Oya and proposed landfill boundary.

This was later reduced to 10 years with an extent of 30 hectares (Phase 1: 17 ha for five years; Phase II: 13 ha for five years), with a landfill height of 40 m from ground level whilst maintaining a buffer zone of 50 metres from the existing gravel road and approximately 200 metres from the Lunu Oya.

The 1,200 tons of solid waste which will be collected from the CMC area will be transferred in 20-foot containers at the Meethotamulla Transfer Station with necessary compaction and will be transported to Aruwakkalu by train, using the existing railway line from Kolonnawa to Aruwakkalu via Puttalam. The waste containers will be unloaded at Aruwakkalu unloading station and transferred to the sanitary landfill site.

The bottom of the landfill will be formed by laying gravel or crushed stone for 30 cm and 1,000 g/m2 non-woven fabric. Further, a bentonite mixture for 30 cm and 1.5 mm and HDPE sheet will cover the top of the non-woven fabric.

The top of the HDPE sheet will be covered with 1,500 g/m2 non-woven fabric. The necessary slope will be maintained in the bottom layer. Leachate collection and a treatment system are incorporated in the design.


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