Plaints in gem mining in Kalu Ganga case dismissed

The Appeal Court and the Supreme Court dismissed two plaints a Non-Governmental environmental organization and several petitioners had filed against auctioning of the gem deposit in Kalu Ganga in the vicinity of Raddella and Kahangama, Ratnapura, by the National Gem and Jewellery Authority for one year, a media release from the National Gem and Jewellery Authority said.

Since the Authority's report confirmed that the harm caused to the river bank was not the result of gem mining but illegal removal of sand the Supreme Court and Appeal Court dismissed the two petitions by which the plaintiffs tried to hold the National Gem and Jewellery Authority responsible for the damage, the release said. National Gem and Jewellery Authority

Chairman/CEO Hasitha Tillekeratne said that the Authority had for about one-and-a-half years worked to protect this gem deposit with the help of the police.