A lawmaker from eastern Sri Lanka has brought to light in Parliament the large-scale acquisition of agricultural land, once cultivated by local farmers over four decades ago, and water resources by multiple state institutions.
This land grab has led to adversely affecting the production of the country’s staple diet and livelihoods of the largely Tamil speaking region.
Presenting data in Parliament on May 22, Ilangai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) Trincomalee District MP Shanmugam Kugadasan stated that the Department of Forest Conservation has seized the largest portion.
According to his report, the Department of Forest Conservation has taken over more than 100,000 acres of land, while the Department of Wildlife Conservation comes second in land grabbing by seizing over 100,000 acres.
Prior to 1985, the public had apparently cultivated approximately 236,728 acres of land, which are now under the control of various authorities: 118,710 acres by the Department of Forest Conservation, 111,619 acres by the Department of Wildlife Conservation, 2,599 acres by the Department of Archaeology, and about 3,800 acres are claimed as sacred land by Buddhist monks.
Loss of rice production and livelihood
Parliamentarian Shanmugam Kugadasan stressed that the loss of access to these lands has led to a significant decrease in rice production.
“This situation leads to an estimated loss of around 500,000 metric tons of paddy during a single cultivation season. The government must address this issue urgently. By releasing the seized lands back to the farmers, it would be possible to restore this volume of paddy production. This would improve the livelihoods of farmers and reduce the country’s dependency on rice and paddy imports.”
He further singled out incidents in the Trincomalee District where the Department of Forest Conservation had demarcated boundaries using markers to claim farmland.
“In the Muttur Divisional Secretariat of Trincomalee District, the Department of Forest Conservation has placed boundary stones to appropriate a total of 693 acres—formerly farmed by 252 families—comprising 250 acres belonging to 40 farmers in Sampur Grama Niladhari Division, 85 acres from 18 farmers in Kilivetti Grama Niladhari Division, 117 acres from 45 farmers in Paradipuram Grama Niladhari Division, 148 acres from 70 farmers in Azad Nagar Grama Niladhari Division, and 93 acres from 60 farmers in Thoppur Grama Niladhari Division. As a result, these farmers have been prevented from cultivating their land this season.”
Trincomalee District Parliamentarian of the Ilangai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), Shanmugam Kugadasan, urged the subject Minister in Parliament on May 22 to intervene and put an end to the land appropriation carried out by the Department of Forest Conservation.
He stated, “Similarly, 145 acres of land belonging to 85 farmers in the Thanga Nagar Grama Niladhari Division of the Seruvila Divisional Secretariat have also been occupied using boundary markers. The Department of Forest Conservation requests the subject Minister to take necessary steps to stop this process immediately.”
MP Kugadasan further emphasized, “Even though the country’s rulers have changed, the style of governance continues to operate without any change.”
“In terms of land acquisition in the Trincomalee district, there is a situation where the rulers have changed but the style of governance has not changed. During the war from 1983 to 2009, when people had left this area, the lands that people had traditionally farmed were acquired by the Department of Forest Conservation and the Department of Wildlife Conservation using boundary stones.”
Water resources encroached
He also presented statistical evidence in Parliament showing how the Department of Forest Conservation and the Department of Wildlife Conservation had taken control of reservoirs and irrigation facilities that had once supported these farmlands after Tamils were displaced during the war.
“For example, when looking at the Trincomalee district, the Department of Forest Conservation has acquired approximately 12,000 acres of land, including 205 small tanks and 25 dams that were abandoned during the war, using boundary stones. This is leading to the loss of about 24,000 metric tons of paddy production.”
The Tamil lawmaker further illustrated how locals comment that officials from the Department of Forest Conservation and the Department of Wildlife Conservation now control a combined area of forest land that surpasses the total land extent of the Verugal Divisional Secretariat in the Trincomalee District.
“The total land area of the Verugal Divisional Secretariat Division in the Trincomalee District is 32,042 acres, of which the Department of Forest Conservation Department claims 25,242 acres and the Department of Wildlife Conservation claims 11,906 acres. It is a question of how 32,042 acres from 37,148 acres of the Verugal Divisional Secretariat Division were acquired.”
Parliamentarian Shanmugam Kugadasan went on to elaborate how both departments have continued acquiring land in the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat Division of the Trincomalee District.
Furthermore, the Department of Forest Conservation has taken possession of 29,430 acres of land within the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat in the Trincomalee District, with ongoing attempts to acquire an additional 28,370 acres. In parallel, the Department of Wildlife Conservation has already acquired 7,330 acres of land in the same division.
MP Shanmugam Kugadasan also noted that Buddhist monks have claimed 3,820 acres in the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat Division, asserting that the land is sacred.
“The Department of Archeology has occupied 1,087 acres. Buddhist monks have occupied another 3,820 acres, claiming them as sacred.”
According to the ITAK Parliamentarian, the occupation of 70,039 acres of land—previously cultivated by residents of the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat before 1985—has resulted in a loss of 140,000 metric tons of paddy harvest in just one agricultural season.
The Parliamentarian also highlighted in Parliament the wider negative impact on national paddy production caused by the appropriation of farmland in the Trincomalee District.
“Furthermore, the Department of Archaeology is also using boundary stones to acquire lands that people have farmed. It is not possible to find archaeological remains in them, and it is also preventing people from farming in them. For example, in Thiriyaya village, nearly 1,000 acres of land have been acquired by the Department of Archaeology and boundary stones have been used. Even though 3–4 years have passed, no archaeological objects have been found in that land, and permission has not been granted to return those lands to the public or to farm them. This has severely affected paddy production.”
During a meeting between Tamil representatives and the President at the time Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2023, concerning the forced acquisition of Tamil lands in the Northern and Eastern provinces by state institutions, the President stated that any action should be based on the 1985 map maintained by the Department of Forest Conservation.
At a public rally held in Kilinochchi on April 26, 2025, in the lead-up to the local government elections scheduled for May 6, 2025, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake assured that the Department of Forest Conservation would return lands taken during the war, following appropriate verification.
“Some lands, traditional cultivated lands, were taken over by the Department of Forest Conservation after reviewing Google Maps. They used to be cultivated lands in this area— the people’s lands. We are working to return them after proper inspection.”
Apart from the government security forces, several state institutions—including the Mahaweli Development Authority, the Tourism Board, the Department of Archaeology, and the Departments of Forest Conservation and Wildlife Conservation—are reliably accused of forcibly seizing lands belonging to Tamils and Muslims in the Northern and Eastern provinces.
Leave a comment