Parliament’s Sectoral Oversight Committee on Environment, Agriculture and Resource Sustainability has appointed a subcommittee to investigate environmental concerns linked to the Norochcholai Lakvijaya Power Plant and submit recommendations.
The subcommittee will be chaired by MP Bhagya Sri Herath. The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the parent committee chaired by MP Hector Appuhamy, attended by officials from the Environment Ministry, the Power and Energy Ministry, the Health and Mass Media Ministry and several other institutions.
Discussions focused on the environmental impact of the power plant’s operations, accountability of responsible parties and whether relevant institutions had fallen short of their obligations. The subcommittee is expected to submit its findings and recommendations to the wider oversight committee.
The parliamentary panel said it also plans to seek discussions with the embassies of Germany, Japan and China, and the Indian High Commission, to explore training opportunities for local officials on modern technologies used in overseas coal-fired plants.
The probe opens an environment-track on Norochcholai that runs parallel to the existing accountability process led by the Presidential Coal Commission, which has summoned the Auditor General and Energy Ministry Secretary over coal procurement. The plant returned to service this month after Unit 1 was taken offline during the Avurudu demand drop, and remains the largest single point of emissions in the national grid.
Norochcholai, operated by the National System Operator after the breakup of the Ceylon Electricity Board, supplies the bulk of Sri Lanka’s thermal generation. Earlier scrutiny has focused on the quality of imported coal — including substandard shipments from contractor Trident Champhar — but Thursday’s announcement marks the first formal parliamentary-level environmental review of the plant.
