President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Wednesday reviewed progress on establishing a dedicated authority to protect and restore Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands during a meeting at the Presidential Secretariat.
The President emphasised the need to safeguard the upper watershed region following extensive damage from landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025. A decision was taken at the meeting to set up the authority to address environmental issues in the upper watershed and ensure long-term protection of the highlands.
Officials briefed the President on progress with the legal provisions required to establish the authority and on proposals submitted by stakeholders. Dissanayake instructed officials to expedite follow-up action to operationalise the body.
The proposed authority will oversee environmental restoration and management of upper watershed areas while strengthening institutional coordination. Its remit will include national water security, food security, disaster risk reduction, energy efficiency and climate change adaptation.
Senior government officials, environmental experts, and representatives from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Asian Development Bank attended the meeting.
The Central Highlands feed the Castlereigh, Maussakelle, Victoria and Kotmale reservoir systems that anchor Sri Lanka’s hydropower generation and Mahaweli irrigation. The Cyclone Ditwah landslides, which left 646 dead and caused an estimated 4.1 billion US dollars in damage, exposed the vulnerability of upper-catchment slopes that have lost forest cover to plantation, settlement and infrastructure use over decades.
