Tourist boats on the Madu Ganga will be restricted to engines of 15 horsepower or less, barred from operating after 5 p.m. and required to register with the Department of Wildlife Conservation, under controls agreed to protect the wetland from damage caused by boat traffic, the Daily Mirror reported.
The decision was taken at a special meeting at the Balapitiya Divisional Secretariat on Friday, chaired by Deputy Minister of Environment Anton Jayakody.
The scale of the problem
Around 327 boats operated by 70 tourist boat operators currently use the Madu Ganga, an internationally recognised Ramsar wetland. Officials said that volume has contributed to riverbank erosion, mangrove degradation and disturbance to fish breeding grounds and other aquatic life.
The Deputy Minister said exceeding the carrying capacity of a natural ecosystem could cause irreversible damage, and that tourism had to be managed with a long-term view rather than for short-term profit.
What the rules require
The measures agreed are:
- permits restricted to boats with engines of 15 HP or less
- petrol only for boat engines
- operating hours limited to 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- mandatory registration of every tourist boat with the Department of Wildlife Conservation
A cap on the total number of boats allowed on the river is also to be set, based on a scientific assessment of the river’s ecological carrying capacity — which means the figure has not yet been fixed, and some of the 327 boats now operating may fall outside it.
Officials agreed to seek full Sri Lanka Police support for enforcement and to establish a joint monitoring committee drawn from the attending agencies.
Interim rules first
Until a dedicated legal framework is finalised by the Legal Draftsman’s Department and published in the Government Gazette, authorities will enforce interim guidelines approved by the District Coordinating Committee — so the engine, fuel and timing limits take effect administratively, ahead of any statutory basis.
Officials from the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Central Environmental Authority, Department of Forest Conservation, Coast Conservation Department, Irrigation Department and the Police attended.
Not reported
The report does not say when the interim guidelines take effect, how existing operators with engines above 15 HP will be treated, or whether compensation or a transition period is offered to them. It gives no deadline for the carrying-capacity study or the gazetted framework, no penalties for breaching the rules, and no registration fee. It carries no response from the boat operators or from tourism authorities, and does not say whether the 70 operators were represented at the meeting.
