The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has told the Kandy District Coordinating Committee that more than Rs. 1 billion in government funding is required to identify and demolish 222 unauthorised constructions in Akurana town, with the agency unable to bear the cost on its own.
UDA Central Province Director Anura Madawala briefed the committee at the Kandy District Secretariat Auditorium, in a meeting co-chaired by Agriculture and Irrigation Minister K.D. Lalkantha and Central Province Governor Prof. S.B.S. Abayakoon. The structures were identified along the corridor stretching from the entrance to Akurana town up to the seventh-mile post, and notices have already been issued to 159 of them, the UDA said.
Akurana Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Isthiquar Imadudeen told the meeting that 14 buildings previously slated for legal action had been transferred to the Pradeshiya Sabha, but that the local body lacked the financial strength and authority to demolish them. The matter has now been referred back to the UDA, he said.
Madawala said the UDA does not currently have the power to issue a permanent prohibitory injunction against unauthorised constructions and has requested amendments to its enabling legislation. “If those amendments are passed, we can stop this,” he said.
MP Rauff Hakeem warned that strict application of the 40-foot river reservation rule could affect “the entire Akurana town” and called for a coordinated programme involving the UDA, Land Reclamation Commission and Irrigation Department. State Minister of Transport and Highways Prasanna Gunasena said discussions had gone on long enough and that “the problem is lack of implementation.” MP Riyas Farook questioned why new unauthorised buildings were still being erected “right in the open.”
Minister Lalkantha said a committee decision is needed to include the demolition funding in the upcoming budget. The committee also decided to maintain the canal running parallel to Akurana town at a width of 40 feet.
