Mannar at Risk: Development or Dispossession ?

Introduction

Mannar Island, the largest island in Sri Lanka, is a place of both ecological richness and deep human struggle. Home to nearly 75,000 people, its fishing and farming communities have sustained life here for generations despite decades of war, displacement, and poverty. Today, however, these communities face new threats, this time in the name of “development.”

Two projects in particular have become flashpoints of resistance: large-scale wind power expansion and mineral sand mining. While both are promoted as crucial for Sri Lanka’s economic future and energy security, they have sparked continuous protests in Mannar. For residents, these projects are not symbols of progress, but reminders of how development, when planned without consultation or safeguards, can destroy livelihoods, displace families, and permanently damage fragile ecosystems.

Geographically, Mannar is one of the most vulnerable regions in Sri Lanka. During the civil war, the people of the Mannar district were also affected by the war. In particular, there has been a lot of internal and external migration in this area. Also, the resettlement process took place in the post-war period and is still incomplete in many areas.

Much of the island lies at or below sea level, making it especially sensitive to environmental disruption. It is part of an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot, famous for migratory birds and marine resources, while also holding cultural significance that ties generations of people to its land and sea. Yet, instead of being safeguarded, Mannar has become a testing ground for extractive projects that prioritise profit over people.

The ongoing protests, led by fisherfolk, farmers, youth, and civil society, are not against development itself. Rather, they are a call for development that respects land, water, and communities. The people of Mannar insist that renewable energy and economic growth cannot come at the cost of displacement, ecological destruction, and the denial of community rights. Their struggle reflects a broader question that Sri Lanka must confront: What kind of development do we want, and who is it really for?

Background: Mannar’s Fragile Landscape

Mannar Island in the Northern Province, connected to the mainland by a causeway across the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mannar. It is the largest island in Sri Lanka, stretching 26 kilometres in length and about 6 kilometres in width. Yet, despite its size, Mannar is uniquely vulnerable: the island has an average elevation of just 7.8 metres above sea level, with several areas such as South Bar, Thottaveli, Erukalampiddy, and Konnaiyan Kudiyiruppu lying at or even below sea level. This fragile geography means that even small-scale environmental disruptions, let alone large extractive projects, pose serious risks of flooding, seawater intrusion, and land degradation.

Mannar’s ecological importance is equally significant. The island sits within the Cauvery Basin and is part of an internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot. Its coastal waters, lagoons, and mangrove belts sustain marine life and protect communities from erosion and storms. Mannar is also renowned worldwide for being a sanctuary for migratory birds, which host flocks that travel across continents each year. These natural assets are not just of scientific interest; they are the foundation of local livelihoods and cultural identity. Fishing, small-scale farming, and the cultivation of coconuts and palmyrah remain the backbone of the local economy, supporting tens of thousands of families.

The people of Mannar, however, carry the scars of a difficult past. For decades during Sri Lanka’s civil war, the island was a heavily militarised zone, and its residents endured displacement, destruction of property, and restricted access to their own land and sea. Many families only returned after 2009 to rebuild their lives from scratch. But their recovery has been slow, and poverty, unemployment, and poor infrastructure remain persistent challenges. Against this backdrop of hardship, the promise of “development” is often presented as a lifeline. Yet, for Mannar’s residents, these promises are quickly turning into threats.

Large-scale wind power projects and mineral sand mining are now reshaping the island, but without the free, prior, and informed consent of its people. Lands have been taken, streams blocked, and fishing grounds disrupted, leaving communities once again facing displacement, this time not from war, but from projects promoted in the name of progress. For the people of Mannar, the question is not whether development should happen, but whether it can happen in a way that safeguards their fragile island and the dignity of its people.

Sand Mining: An Existential Threat

Beneath the sandy stretches of Mannar’s coast lie vast deposits of valuable mineral sands, including ilmenite, rutile, garnet, zircon, and sillimanite. These minerals, used globally in industries ranging from ceramics to aviation, have drawn the attention of both state agencies and private companies. Proposals for large-scale extraction promise foreign investment and export income, but for the people of Mannar, sand mining represents not an opportunity but an existential threat.

According to Dr. V. Pradeeparajah, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Geography, University of Jaffna, Mannar’s geological vulnerability makes such extraction particularly dangerous. Unlike Pulmoddai, Sri Lanka’s better-known mineral sand deposit, located on stable high ground, Mannar lies on extremely low terrain. Mining here would require excavating up to 12 metres deep and dumping vast amounts of sand in already fragile areas. This process risks destabilising the soil structure, increasing land subsidence, and destroying coastal vegetation such as coconut and palmyrah trees.

The consequences of such disruption extend beyond the immediate mining sites. As Dr. Pradeeparajah notes, excavation could contaminate freshwater aquifers with seawater, leaving drinking water unsafe for thousands of families. Rising seawater intrusion would also damage farmland, reducing the already limited agricultural base of the island. In essence, mineral sand mining threatens to accelerate the very climate and environmental risks that Mannar is already struggling with.

Community activists have voiced similar concerns. A. Rakulan, a North-based environmentalist, draws attention to the lessons from Pulmoddai: although mineral extraction there has been ongoing for decades, the local community has seen little benefit, while ecological degradation has been significant. In Mannar, he warns, the impacts would be even worse:

“Pulmoddai’s lands are high, but Mannar is low-lying. If they mine here, the island will sink.”

For residents, the issue is not technical but existential. Mining threatens the very basis of life on the island: land, water, and livelihoods. The people of Mannar have already endured decades of displacement and loss during the civil war. To now face the possibility of losing their island to mining feels, to many, like a second dispossession, this time under the banner of development.

Wind Power Projects: Development Without Consent

Mannar is one of the windiest regions in South Asia, making it highly attractive for renewable energy development. In recent years, the Government of Sri Lanka, together with international financial institutions and private investors, has promoted the expansion of large-scale wind power projects on the island. These projects are framed as essential for reducing dependence on fossil fuels and tackling the country’s energy crisis.

Yet, for the communities of Mannar, wind power has not brought the promised benefits. Instead, it has introduced a new wave of land alienation, environmental disruption, and social marginalisation.

Lack of Consultation and Consent

Residents repeatedly highlight that these projects were planned and implemented without free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of affected communities. Many families were unaware that their common lands and grazing areas had been earmarked for turbines and access roads until construction began. Civil society groups argue that the projects have been driven by central government decisions, with little or no involvement of Mannar’s fisherfolk, farmers, or local authorities.

Environmental and Social Impacts

According to Fr. M. Marcus, a Catholic priest and long-time community advocate in Mannar, wind power projects in the area have generated “ten major problems,” including:

• Destruction of village roads and common lands due to construction work.
• Disruption of water sources and traditional irrigation systems.
• Threats to bird migration routes, particularly in areas internationally recognised as Important Bird Areas (IBAs).
• Restricted access to grazing and fishing areas.
• Increased risk of flooding due to soil compaction and poor drainage around turbine sites.  

Fisherfolk and farmers report that access to the seashore, lagoons, and pastureland has been restricted, undermining their traditional livelihoods. What was once community space is now fenced off as private or restricted-access land, deepening feelings of exclusion and dispossession.

Lessons from the Eppawala Case

Sri Lanka has faced similar struggles over natural resources in the past. A landmark example is the Eppawala Phosphate Case (Bulankulama and Others v. Secretary, Ministry of Industrial Development, [2000] 3 SLR 243), often hailed as a milestone in environmental and human rights jurisprudence in the country.

In the late 1990s, a project was proposed to mine nearly 56 square kilometres of land in the Eppawala area of Anuradhapura to extract phosphate, a key ingredient in fertiliser. The deal, involving foreign companies and the state, promised economic gain but posed severe risks to the livelihoods of farming communities, archaeological heritage, and the environment of the region. Residents, supported by civil society, challenged the project in court.

The Supreme Court, in a historic judgment, recognised that the right to life under Article 11 of the Constitution also implied the right to a healthy environment. The Court ruled that natural resources could not be exploited in a manner that jeopardised the rights of present and future generations. It stressed that development must balance economic benefit with social justice, environmental protection, and the participation of affected communities.

Relevance to Mannar

The warnings raised in Eppawala echo powerfully in Mannar today. Just as phosphate mining threatened to displace farming families in Anuradhapura, mineral sand extraction and wind power projects threaten to dispossess fishing and farming communities in Mannar. In both cases, the state and private actors framed the projects as “development,” while local people faced exclusion, environmental damage, and the loss of their ancestral lands.

Several parallels stand out: 

• Resource Exploitation without Consent: In both Eppawala and Mannar, local communities were not meaningfully consulted, despite being the primary stakeholders.
• Ecological Fragility: The Supreme Court in Eppawala emphasised the need to protect fragile ecosystems. Mannar, with its low-lying terrain and global ecological significance, deserves even greater caution.
• Intergenerational Justice: The Court stressed that natural resources belong not only to the present generation but to the future. Large-scale sand mining or ill-planned wind power in Mannar risks leaving future generations with an uninhabitable island.
• Development with Justice: The judgment reaffirmed that true development must respect dignity, rights, and sustainability. Mannar’s current trajectory falls far short of this standard.    

The Eppawala case is a reminder that Sri Lanka already has a legal and moral precedent to resist destructive projects. The same principles that safeguarded Eppawala’s phosphate should guide decision-making in Mannar: the protection of people, environment, and the future must come before profit.

Conclusion & Recommendations

 The struggles unfolding in Mannar are not isolated disputes about sand mining or wind power projects. They reflect a deeper question about what kind of development Sri Lanka pursues, and at whose expense. For Mannar’s communities already scarred by decades of displacement and war, these projects threaten to reproduce cycles of dispossession, this time under the banner of national progress.

The Eppawala Case stands as a reminder that development cannot come at the cost of people’s rights, livelihoods, and environment. The Supreme Court’s recognition that natural resources must be protected for both present and future generations directly applies to Mannar today. If Mannar is sacrificed to large-scale mineral extraction and poorly planned energy projects, the island may lose the very foundations that sustain its people: land, water, and ecology.

What communities in Mannar demand is not the rejection of development, but its re-imagination:

• A rights-based development model, ensuring free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of all affected peoples.
• A model that prioritises local benefit, guaranteeing that projects improve rather than undermine livelihoods.
• An ecologically sustainable model, recognising Mannar’s fragile terrain, biodiversity, and global environmental significance.A model that is just and participatory, where communities are partners, not victims, of national policy.

Recommendations

 In light of these realities, the following steps are urgently needed:

 Immediate Stop to Large-Scale Sand Mining

    Suspend all approvals for mineral sand extraction in Mannar until comprehensive environmental impact assessments, with genuine community participation, are conducted.

 Re-evaluation of Wind Power Projects

    Review existing projects with a focus on ecological impact, community consent, and equitable benefit-sharing.

    Establish transparent guidelines ensuring that renewable energy does not reproduce extractive injustices.

Re-evaluation of Wind Power Projects

    Review existing projects with a focus on ecological impact, community consent, and equitable benefit-sharing.

     Establish transparent guidelines ensuring that renewable energy does not reproduce extractive injustices.

Legal and Policy Reform

      Operationalise the principles of the Eppawala judgment by embedding environmental rights, intergenerational justice, and FPIC into Sri Lanka’s natural resource governance.

      Ensure independent Research bodies for projects in ecologically sensitive regions like Mannar.

Community-Centred Development Alternatives

      Invest in small-scale, locally managed renewable energy solutions that align with community needs.

     Strengthen livelihoods in fisheries, agriculture, and eco-tourism, which are sustainable and culturally rooted.

Strengthening Accountability and Transparency

      Guarantee access to information on all proposed projects.

     Enable affected communities to seek redress through courts, human rights institutions, and international mechanisms if necessary.

Mannar’s story is not just about one region. It is about the future direction of development in Sri Lanka. Will the country repeat the mistakes of dispossession and exploitation, or will it learn from Eppawala and embrace a model of development that protects people, land, and future generations? For the people of Mannar, the answer is urgent. Their survival depends on it.

- The People’s Alliance for Right to Land(PARL)

-  Shabeer Mohamed