Environmentalists urge Govt. to disallow any future wind power projects in biodiverse Mannar Island

SEASONED environmentalists, senior scientists, and legal professionals have reiterated that legal recourse will be sought yet again should another global or local entity seek to resume wind power initiatives in the ecologically sensitive Mannar Island, following withdrawal by India's Adani Group last June.

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A press brief was organised by environmental conservationist Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda and environmental organisations The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), and Environmental Foundation (Guarantee) Ltd. (EFL) to touch upon several issues, such as transparency, due process, and the financial aspects according to which the Adani bid was challenged, and the misunderstood and erroneous notion that environmental organisations are against development and technological advancement.

"Mannar Island is an environmentally, culturally, economically, and politically sensitive area and is as critical for the environment and the economy as the protected Sinharaja Forest, Horton Plains, the Knuckles Reserve, and the Yala and Wilpattu National Parks. It is a biodiversity hub which is the gateway to about 15 million migratory birds entering the island from 30 counties across the globe via the Central Asian Flyway each year, with approximately 1 million birds of 180 species making it their home. Already, the Thambapavani wind power project has 30 wind turbines operating on the southern edge of the Mannar Island and the Adani wind power project, if it had materialised, would have erected 52 towers in the Phase 1 extension and 21 during Phase 2, covering most of the island and blocking the migratory paths of birds with the obliteration of these birds, some of them critically endangered," said University of Colombo Zoology Professor and WNPS Vice President Sampath Seneviratne at a recent press conference.