Despite sustained Tamil opposition, the Sri Lankan government is pressing ahead with plans to extract mineral sand along Mannar’s coastal belt, according to on the ground reports.
The move directly contradicts earlier promises made by Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who had assured the people of Mannar that no mineral sand mining would proceed without their consent.
The renewed push for extraction comes just days after the conclusion of local government elections, and before new local councils have even been established. On 19 May 2025, officials from the Central Survey Department, accompanied by a private company, entered the Pesalai 50 Housing Scheme area to conduct preliminary surveys in preparation for the project.
However, the attempt was thwarted by the intervention of members from the Union of Civic Organisations and the Mannar Citizens’ Group, who protested the move and forced the surveying team to withdraw.
Adding to the controversy, journalists who attempted to document the incident were subjected to intimidation. Reports say they were threatened by the officials involved, who also recorded footage of the journalists, raising further concerns over state efforts to silence scrutiny and suppress dissent.
During the local government election campaign, Dissanayake had stated that neither wind power projects nor mineral sand extraction would be approved without public consent. Similar commitments were made even before his presidential election victory. However, state departments began arriving in the area to initiate groundwork for the same mining project he had pledged to stop.
The resumption of survey work, following his election and now the conclusion of local polls, has heightened distrust among residents who accuse the government of electoral deceit.
Environmental and civic organisations in Mannar continue to raise alarm over the ecological and social impacts of sand mining, particularly in a district already vulnerable due to post-armed conflict displacement, militarisation, and development-induced land grabs. This development adds to a growing list of broken promises by the current administration, including on demilitarisation, land return, and justice for war crimes — issues that Tamils in the North-East say have been systematically sidelined.
