The Fisheries and Aquatic Development Ministry has stated that it will take steps to renovate the Nanthi Lagoon located in the Nanthi Kadal area of the Mullaitivu District.
It has been reported that scientific research for the project has already been carried out, and that it is to be implemented in coordination with the Wildlife Conservation Department, Sri Lanka Fishery Harbours Corporation, and the Central Environment Authority.
A spokesman for the Fisheries Department told the Daily News that the lagoon was contaminated during the 30-year civil war. Moreover, no steps had been taken to renovate the lagoon, afterwards, he added.
The spokesman also said that the two-kilometre-long canal linking the Nanthi Lagoon to the Nanthi Kadal Estuary has been overrun with garbage and aquatic plants for a long time.
Furthermore, at a recent meeting held between officials from the Wildlife Department and Fisheries Ministry, it was suggested that debris and munitions from the war could still be stuck between the waste or at the bottom of the lagoon.
Among the participants at the meeting were Wildlife Director-General Hemantha Jayasinghe, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) Chairman Prof. Navarathnaraja, Fisheries Department Director-General Thushara Lokukumara, Beach Preservation Department Director Prabath Chandrasekara, and senior engineers of the Fisheries Corporation.