Marine Biologist, Dr. Rekha Maldeniya (Former Head of Marine Biology for NARA) speaks on dredging locations and protecting our Bio Diversity, aspects that were considered in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Colombo Port City Project.
She discusses the process through which NARA (National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency) identified the bio diversities in the different eco systems of sites 1 and 2 which were identified for sand dredging. She explains the different ecosystems that exist in the 2 identified sites along with the nature of the sites finally approved for dredging.
She outlines how potential silt distribution was studied and modeled by LHI (Lanka Hydraulic Institute) showing proof that the maximum distance silt can spread to is 100 metres and how silt by nature settles extremely fast.