Sri Lanka’s president Anura Kumara Dissanayake inaugurated the Vadduvakal Bridge project in Mullaitivu this week, announcing a series of new development initiatives set to begin in September.
The government said the bridge, located on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu road, would now cost Rs. 1.4 billion instead of the initial Rs. 1.8 billion, with Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake claiming that “transparent administration and efficient planning” had reduced costs by Rs. 400 million. The savings, he added, would be redirected to highway development in the Vanni District.
Dissanayake pledged that his government would complete projects “on schedule and within budget,” insisting that public funds would be managed responsibly. The new two-lane structure, serving more than 3,000 vehicles a day, is expected to be completed by September 2027.
For Tamils, the Vadduvakal bridge holds a deep significance. Situated by the Nandikadal Lagoon, it became one of the central sites of the Mullivaikkal genocide in 2009. As Sri Lankan forces encircled the final sliver of territory held by Tamils, hundreds of thousands of civilians attempted to flee across the lagoon towards Vadduvakal.
The waters and surrounding lands were soon strewn with bodies, as relentless shelling and gunfire massacred those trapped in the so-called “No Fire Zone.” Photographs from the time showed the scale of the killings, with survivors recalling the horrors that unfolded at the bridge. To this day, Vadduvakal stands as a site of trauma and testimony to the atrocities committed against Tamils.
Despite the symbolic weight of the site, successive Sri Lankan governments refused demands for accountability for the massacres carried out there.
While the government touts the reconstruction as a step towards connectivity and development, Tamil survivors and families of the disappeared continue to demand that Vadduvakal be recognised as a site of genocide and that justice for those massacred be delivered.
More than 16 years after the killings at Mullivaikkal, there has been no accountability for the atrocities that unfolded at Vadduvakal bridge.
