Green circle to conserve wetlands

Rs. 150m for green circle line parks, beautifying projects:

Steps are being taken to create green circles at the Bio-diversity Park near the Diyawanna Oya,the Bird sanctuary in Attidiya and other areas under the supervision of the Urban Development Authority, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Champika Ranawaka said.

He said Rs. 150 million has been set apart following a proposal made by him to President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2009 Budget for the setting up of green circle line parks and the street beautifying projects.

Rs. 58.4 million out of this will be used for the first phase of the project which will see the beautification of 1.6 kilometres of the Denzil Kobbekaduwa Mawatha.

The Minister said they were certain that the Government would take bold decisions in the future.

Work is already being carried out to systematically develop Kotte which is the country's administrative capital with the shifting of all Government offices in to the area. "The area round Parliament, which is a high security zone will be turned into an eco-friendly zone," the Minister said at the opening of the green circle project opposite the Central Environment Authority building at Denzil Kobbekaduwa Mawatha in Battaramulla.

"We are launching the green circle in a bid to conserve all wetlands which have been polluted today by garbage.The wetland areas are fast dwindling and threatening the water resources and our bio-diversity," Minister Ranawaka said.

The Minister said they had also taken steps to rehabilitate the wetland on which the Bloemendhal garbage mountain stands and develop it under a systematic plan so that the environment would be protected. "If there is value to be gained from wetlands we can also put a stop to the filling of wetlands. This can be done by imposing additional levies on those trying to build on wetlands to make this a disincentive," he said.