Court of Appeal acts on the petition filed by Uruwarige Wannila Aththo

    The Court of Appeal today issued notices on several respondents including Mahaweli Development Authority, returnable on the 5^th of April in connection with a writ petition filed by Uruwarige Wannila Aththo, the leader of the indigenous population known as 'Veddas'. Wannila Aththo and Center for Environmental Justice had filed this writ petition challenging the clearing of the lands at Pollebedda-Rambaken Oya area for a Proposed Agricultural and Livestock Development Project. The Court of Appeal bench comprising Justice Sobhitha Rajakaruna and Dhammika Ganepola fixed the petition for argument on April 5. The petitioners are seeking an order staying the validity of approvals granted to Mahaweli Authority to clear the relevant lands for the proposed Agriculture, Livestock Development Project. Filing this petition through counsel Ravindranath Dabare, the petitioners have named Central Environmental Authority, Mahaweli Development Authority, Department of Forests, Department of Wild Life Conservation, Minister of Wildlife and Forest Conservation, RAN Plantations (Pvt) Ltd and several others as respondents. The RAN Plantations (Pvt) Ltd had told court that the Company utilised abandoned lands which were earlier used for chena cultivation. The petitioners said that deforestation and development have greatly contributed to the shrinking of their traditional lands. This has caused a progressive decline in their number, and the community is at risk of losing its ancient traditions, which have been handed down from generation to generation. Petitioners states that an area of approximately 500 ha had already been cleared for the Proposed Agricultural and Livestock Development Project at Pollebedda-Rambaken Oya according to the site inspection carried out by the petitioners.