The removal of unauthorised structures along the Colombo District coastal belt will begin this month, Environment Minister Dr. Dammika Patabendi said on Friday.
The operation covers the stretch from Galle Face to the Bolgoda River, which has been divided into five zones, NewsFirst reported. Legal advice on the removal process has already been obtained from the Attorney General.
The minister said plans are under way to clear all illegal structures along the coastline and redevelop the area as a tourist destination.
A separate order appears to set the first deadline. Hiru News reported — citing a newspaper report rather than its own reporting — that Coast Conservation authorities have instructed the removal of unauthorised hotels, business establishments and other structures along the coastal stretch from Bambalapitiya to Dehiwala before September 10. That stretch falls inside the Galle Face–Bolgoda corridor the minister described.
According to that report, the instruction forms part of wider action on construction and businesses operating inside the coastal zone without permission, and authorities are preparing to take legal and administrative action against any establishment that does not clear its structures within the period given.
Construction inside Sri Lanka’s coastal reservation requires a permit from the Department of Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management. Enforcement has historically been uneven, and hotels, restaurants and cafés built inside the reservation have been demolished elsewhere on the coast in recent months.
Not reported
Neither outlet said how many structures are affected, how many are businesses, or what the five zones are. Neither reported whether owners have been served individual notices, what appeal or compensation route exists, or whether any structure holds a permit that is disputed rather than absent.
NewsFirst gave no start date beyond “this month” and did not say which zone goes first, whether the September 10 Bambalapitiya–Dehiwala deadline is the first of five, or which agency carries out the demolition. Neither outlet named the Attorney General’s advice or said what question it answered.
Hiru News attributes its account to an unnamed newspaper rather than to Coast Conservation directly, and does not date the order. No outlet has linked the enforcement drive to the redevelopment plan the minister described, or said who would develop the cleared land.
NewsFirst spells the minister’s name Dhammika Patabendi; this site uses Dammika, the form that predominates in prior coverage.
