ආවරණය නොකළ ආහාර විකිණුවාට දඩ

වාද්දුව සමූහ එස්. ආර්. පියදාස

දූවිලි බැඳීමට සහ මැස්සන්ට වසා සිටිය හැකි පරිදි ආවරණ කිරීමෙන් තොරව කෑම වර්ග අලෙවි කළ පාණදුර හේනමුල්ලේ භෝජන ශාලාවක් පවත්වාගෙන ගිය පුද්ගලයකුට පාණදුර මහේස්ත්‍රාත් රංග දිසානායක මහතා විසින් රුපියල් තුන් දහසක දඩයක් නියම කරන ලදී.

කෙසෙල්වත්ත මහජන සෞඛ්‍ය පරීක්ෂක මහේෂ් මහතා කෙසෙල්වත්ත නගරයේ හෝටල් පරීක්ෂා කිරීමේ මෙහෙයුමකදී මේ පුද්ගලයා අත්අඩංගුවට ගෙන පාණදුර අධිකරණයට ඉදිරිපත් කර තිබුණි.

http://www.dinamina.lk/2011/08/06/_art.asp?fn=r1108062

‘Introduce rice varieties having bigger consumer demand’

President at progress review meeting:

‘Introduce rice varieties having bigger consumer demand’

President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday stressed the need to introduce rice varieties having a bigger consumer demand to farmers to help them overcome marketing problems. The President made this observation when he presided over a progress review meeting of the Ministries of Agriculture, Livestock, Environment, Economic Development, Agrarian Services and Wild Life and Irrigation and Water Management and Institutions under their purview at Temple Trees.

The President said that even though farmers throughout the country cultivated rice with much enthusiasm, many of them found some difficulty in marketing their produce as the rice varieties they offered did not suit the market demand.

In order to save farmers from this difficulty they should be advised to cultivate varieties that are much in demand.

President Rajapaksa said the delay in solving problems relating to institutions under the purview of Ministries was mainly caused due to the delay in delegating powers to the officers concerned. This delay impeded attempts to achieve development targets. Therefore simple procedures should be adopted to delegate such problem solving powers to the officials concerned, the President said.

The President who paid attention to the problems brought forward by officials in the Environment and Irrigation Ministries said immediate steps should be taken to stop construction work in catchment areas.

He also directed officials to implement an immediate programme to overcome difficulties faced in the clearance of garbage in urban areas. Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Basil Rajapaksa, S M Chandrasena, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena and Arumugam Thondaman, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr P B Jayasundere and other officials were also present.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/06/news02.asp

Dengue breeding places in WP: Over 41 percent created by plastic items

Dengue breeding places in WP :

Over 41 percent created by plastic items

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

Latest Medical Research Institute (MRI) entomology surveys reveal that 41 percent dengue mosquito breeding places in the Western Province were created by plastic items. Around 15 percent of dengue mosquito breeding takes place in water storages and 13 per cent in coconut shells, Dr. Indira Weerasinghe said.

Breeding places

* Ten percent inside buildings* 15 percent in water storages * 13 percent in coconut shells

Addressing the 111th Anniversary of the MRI held at MRI auditorium yesterday Dr. Weerasinghe said that over 90 per cent of mosquito breeding places are located outside in the environment and only 10 per cent of dengue mosquito breeding places located inside buildings.

Meanwhile, the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry has released the latest statistics on dengue situation in the country. According to the statistics a total of 14,772 dengue cases had been reported from all parts of the country by August 4. According to the same statistics, the highest number of dengue cases, 5,802 had been reported from the Colombo district. Colombo Municipal Council area recorded 2,043 Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) cases.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/06/news03.asp

Practical approach to combat biopiracy

Disna Mudalige

Wildlife Conservation Department (WCD) Director General H D Ratnayake said that discussions are on with the Environment Ministry to find out a practical approach to combat biopiracy and to design and formulate a set of guidelines to prevent illegal wildlife trade.


He observed that the government has now paid attention towards a proper means to control biopiracy by ensuring intellectual property rights to Sri Lankan researchers without giving room to foreign companies and individuals to secure patent rights for our biological resources.


He said that a research committee comprised ofexperts in fauna, flora, marine environment and natural resources is now established with the support of all relevant institutions to encourage and to provide legal support for wildlife related researches.


Addressing a press conference held at the WCD yesterday, he said that Sri Lanka was subjected to a number of incidents related to biopiracy due to high demand for our species with unique features. He observed that due to the war in the country illegal wildlife trade had flourished in the past since coastal areas in the North and East could not be monitored.


“Now the government has a direct approach to these areas and is closely monitoring all sea paths. Since our country is an island, illegal wildlife trade can only take place through sea and airports. We have taken stern action to obstruct all possible means of illegal wildlife trade with the direct intervention of Customs Department and the Biodiversity Secretariat” he noted.


He also observed that even though the country has very strict laws pertaining to biopiracy, there are some loose ends when it comes to practical enforcement. He noted that the Sri Lanka Wildlife Enforcement Network is now working to rectify these issues.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/06/news13.asp

Jumbo census from August 11

Priyanka Kurugala

A 1993 survey revealed that there are around 2,600 elephants in the country.

The Wildlife Department estimates that there are around 5,500 to 6,000 elephants in the country, Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena said at a press conference.

He said it has been planned to hold an elephant census after 18 years from August 11 to minimize the human-elephant conflict.

The minister said elephants will be categorized based on their age and gender. Statistics will also be collected under various groups, such as, adult male, adult female, adolescent Juvenile and calf.

‘The Wildlife Department can play a major role in the tourism development drive. On the directions of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the ministry plans to introduce means of growing food for elephants living close to the National Parks,’ he said.

He said a number of officers will participate in this elephant census which will be conducted between August 11 and 14.

‘Sri Lanka’s forest cover which was around 41 percent in the 1930’s has now dwindled to 20 percent at present, which is the main cause for the human-elephant conflict,’ the minister said.

‘The ministry plans to set up electric fences around sanctuaries. They also plan to grow hedges,bushes, palm and citrus trees in the sanctuaries.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/06/news15.asp

Hydrophobia claims 49

Nadira Gunatilleke

*55 persons die of hydrophobia annually

*400,000 dog bites annually

Forty nine persons have died of hydrophobia this year while 2009 also recorded a similar number of deaths, Medical Research Institute (MRI) statistics revealed.

MRI statistics also revealed that 699 animals were found positive for rabies last year.

Among them 579 were dogs, 57 cats, 18 ruminants and three mongoose. Meanwhile, 38 persons died of hydrophobia last year.

The statistics were released by Dr. Omala Wimalaratne during the 111th anniversary of the MRI yesterday.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry sources said that the government spends Rs.35,000 every time a dog bites a person.

“Annually 55 persons die of hydrophobia in Sri Lanka and half of them are below the age of 15,” he said.

The Health Ministry spends Rs 500 million annually to treat dog bite victims while annually there are 400,000 dog bites reported in Sri Lanka, the spokesman said.

“The ministry has 25 Rabies Control Units countrywide,” he said.

“Another 200 State hospitals offer free care and treatment for the public and domestic dogs including the anti-rabies injection. The most affected districts are Colombo, Gampaha, Galle, Batticaloa, Anuradhapura and Jaffna.

“Hambantota and Polonnaruwa districts have not reported a single rabies case,” the spokesman said.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/06/news26.asp 

Handing over of SL’s first solar power plant (2 items)

Sri Lanka’s first solar power plant established at Barutha Kanda Solar Power Park in Hambantota, will be handed over to the pubic on August 8 under the patronage of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa.

Five hundred K.watts capacity of electricity will be added to the national electricity Grid. The Korean government has financed the establishment of this solar power plant at a cost of Rs 412 million.

Sustainable Energy Authority Director Athula Jayathunga said that this power plant generates 2,300 units of electricity daily and generates 839,500 kilowatts hours annually.

“By adding this solar power energy to the national grid, 200,000 litres of diesel could be saved annually,” he said adding that in view of this the emission of 300 tonnes of carbondioxide to the environment has been stopped.

Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, Hambantota district MP Namal Rajapaksa and Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka. Choi Jong Moon are expected to participate.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/06/news33.asp

මෙරට ප්‍රථම සූර්ය බලශක්‌ති බලාගාරය 8 දා විවෘත කෙරේ

ශිරාන් රණසිංහ

හම්බන්තොට බුරුත කන්දේ ඉදිකළ කිලෝවොට්‌ පන්සියයකින් සමන්විත මෙරට ඉදි වූ පළමු සූර්ය බලශක්‌ති බලාගාරය ලබන සඳුදා (08 වැනිදා) පෙරවරු 10.30 ට විදුබල හා බලශක්‌ති ඇමැති පාඨලී චම්පික රණවක මහතා අතින් විවෘත කෙරේ.

මෙම බලාගාරය ඉදිකිරීම සඳහා රුපියල් මිලියන 412 ක්‌ වැය වී ඇති අතර මෙය පරිසර හිතකාමී විදුලි ව්‍යාපෘතියකි. ඒ අනුව පරිසරයට වසරකට මුදාහරින කාබන් ඩයොක්‌සයිඩ් ටොන් 300 ක්‌ පරිසරයට මුදා හැරීම නවතිනු ඇතැයි ද විදුලිබල හා බලශක්‌ති අමාත්‍යාංශය සඳහන් කරයි. මෙම විදුලි බලාගාරය විවෘත කිරීමේ අවස්‌ථාවට පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රී නාමල් රාජපක්‍ෂ සහ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොරියානු තානාපති චෝයි ඡොන්ග්මුන් මහතා ද සහභාගිවීමට නියමිතය.


http://www.divaina.com/2011/08/06/news08.html

Now, ice creams under probe

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

Colombo Chief Medical Officer Dr Pradeep Kariyawasam has warned those eating ice cream if they feel a pain in the throat or are affected with any other ailment such as diarrhea after consuming ice cream to inform the Colombo Municipal Council Health Department Dr Kariyawasam said that certain persons have complained of ailments after eating ice cream packed in plastic containers. It is suspected that lids of containers are not tightly fixed, leading to contamination.

He also noted that it is necessary to produce such ice cream samples to the Health Department without fail.

“Sometimes refrigerators in some shops are switched off in the nights and due to that reason, the ice cream can be contaminated. Steps will be taken to appoint a team to check refrigerators in shops and sales outlets at night,” Dr Kariyawasam said. Legal action will be taken against shop owners who sell poor quality ice cream, he said.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/05/news25.asp

Rock blasts threaten rare fish with extinction

Priyanka Kurugala

Gadaya

* Found in Lanka for 20 years

* Sterilizing fish

* Deep water fish

Rock blasting at the centre of the Mahaweli Ganga at Getambe by a private institution in violation of a ban imposed by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) is posing a threat to a rare fish species known as Gadaya (Labeo fisheri), said Zoological researcher Pradeep Samarawickrama.

Rock blasting

He said the blasting is being carried out by this institution for a proposed mini hydro power plant. The CEA chairman has ordered the party concerned to halt the blasting , but the work was suspended for 10 minutes only, on Monday, he said.

“Gadaya has been reported in Sri Lanka 20 years ago. But this variety cannot be found in the area today. Therefore this species is entered in the Red Data book as a sterilizing fish,” he said.

“After 20 years three dead fish of this variety had been found floating in the Mahaweli Ganga,” he said.

Rapidly flowing deep water is the natural habitation of this fish species. This area has been identified as a landslide prone area. Therefore construction has been banned in these areas. An entire family had been buried due to a previous landslide.

Residents also protest against this exercise which has caused them insecurity.

Nevertheless this company is not paying heed to these protests and are continuing with their construction programmes, he said.

Central Environment Authority Chairman Dr Charitha Herath said that, permission which has been granted to continue the constructions has been stopped. It had not been extended. Environmental Lawyer Jagath Gunawardana said, according to the National Environmental Act no project should be started without environmental clearance.

In this instance the clearance that was given in 2007 expired last year. It is praiseworthy that Chairman of the Central Environment Authority has taken action to prevent environmental damage.

Responding to the Daily News, a spokesman of the constructing company said the blasting has been stopped on the orders of the Central Environment Authority. The company is awaiting the advice of the CEA to commence the construction programmes again.

Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority Director Environment A M K B Attanayake said that, the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority is the approved agent of this project. Therefore, constructors should work under the approval of the Central Environment Authority. First the CEA had allowed to commence this project and on the second occasion not extended the permission to continue the project up to now. Nor have they stopped or suspended the project.He further said that, the Mahaweli Authority is involved in investigating about the threat posed to “Gadaya”. However their team was unable to uncover such a species.

“We can’t say whether or not there is Gadaya. Action should be taken either to continue or stop the project after conducting a systematic study.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/05/news11.asp

කොළඹ ජාතික රෝහලේ දන්තායතනයේ එක්ස්රේ පටල හිඟයක්

සන්ධ්‍යා කරුණාරත්න

කොළඹ ජාතික දන්තායතනයේ එක්ස්-රේ ගැනීම සඳහා වන එක්ස්-රේ පටල නොමැතිකම නිසා වෛද්‍යවරු හා රෝගීහු දැඩි අපහසුතාවට පත්ව ඇති බව එහි ආරංචි මාර්ග සඳහන් කරයි.

මුඛ රෝග හඳුනාගැනීම සඳහා රෝගීන්ගේ එක්ස්-රේ ගැනීමට නොහැකි වීම හේතුවෙන් රෝගී ප්‍රතිකාර සේවා දැනට මාස කිහිපයකට පෙර සිට අඩාල වී ඇත.

ඒ අනුව දිනකට එක්ස්-රේ ගැනීම් සියයත්, එකසිය දහයත් අතර වූ ප්‍රමාණය වර්තමානය වන විට බින්දුව දක්වාම පහළ වැටී තිබේ.

බස්නාහිර පළාතේ අසාධ්‍ය මුඛ රෝගවලින් පෙළෙන බොහෝ ජනතාවක් ජාතික දන්තායතනයෙන් ප්‍රතිකාර ලබා ගැනීමට පැමිණෙන බවත් එක්ස්-රේ පටල නොමැතිකම නිසා මේ රෝගීන්ට නැවත හැරී යාමට සිදු වන බවත් එම ආරංචි මාර්ග පවසයි.

රෝහලට අවශ්‍ය එක්ස්-රේ පටල ලබාදීමට සෞඛ්‍ය බලධාරීහු පියවර ගන්නේ නම් රෝගීන් පත්ව සිටින මෙම අසීරු තත්ත්වයෙන් මුදා ගැනීමට හැකි වේ.

http://www.dinamina.lk/2011/08/05/_art.asp?fn=n11080515

නියඟයත් සමග බදුල්ලේ රක්‍ෂිත ගිනි තැබීම් සිදු වෙයි

කරුණාරත්න පල්ලේගම - බණ්‌ඩාරවෙල

බදුල්ල දිස්‌ත්‍රික්‌කයේ මේ දිනවල පවතින දැඩි නියං කාලගුණයත් සමග ප්‍රදේශයේ රක්‌ෂිත වනාන්තර සහ පතන් බිම් විශාල ලෙස ගිනි තැබීම් මේ දිනවලදී සිදු වේ. 

මෙසේ ගිනි තැබීම නිසා මේ වන විට බදුල්ල දිස්‌ත්‍රික්‌කයේ කැලෑ අක්‌කර දහසකට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක්‌ ගින්නෙන් විනාශ වී ඇතැයි බදුල්ල දිස්‌ත්‍රික්‌කයේ පරිසරවේදීහු කියති.

බදුල්ල දිස්‌ත්‍රික්‌කයට අයත් ඇල්ල රාවණාඇල්ල රක්‌ෂිතය, මකුල්ඇල්ල රක්‌ෂිතය, නමුණුකුල රක්‌ෂිතය, බල්ලකෙටුව, උස්‌පොතකන්ද රක්‌ෂිතය, දොඩම්ගොල්ල පතන් බිම, හල්දුම්මුල්ල වෑඑළිය රක්‍ෂිතය, අලුත්වෙල රක්‍ෂිතය, කොලොන්ගස්‌තැන්න රක්‍ෂිතය, උඩවේරිය ඔහිය රක්‍ෂිතය, හපුතලේ වයි හන්දිය රක්‍ෂිතය, මීගහකිවුල සහ කන්දකැටිය ප්‍රදේශයේ පතන් බිම් බොහොමයක්‌ද මේ වන විට ගිනි තබා විනාශ කර ඇත. 

ප්‍රදේශවාසී පිරිස්‌ සතුන් දඩයම් කිරීමටත්, විනෝදය පිණිසත් මෙම ගිනි තැබීම් සිදු කරන අතර වෙනත් ප්‍රදේශවල සිට පැමිණෙන දේශීය සංචාරකයන් මෙම රක්‌ෂිත ආසන්නයේ මහාමාර්ග අසල ආහාර පිසීම පිණිස ගිනි දැල්වීම මගින්ද මෙම රක්‌ෂිත ගිනි ගැනීම සිදුවෙතැයි ප්‍රදේශවාසීහු කියති.

මෙසේ මෙම රක්‌ෂිත සහ පතන් බිම් ගිනිගෙන විනාශ වීම නිසා මේ වන විට මෙම ප්‍රදේශයට ආවේනික දේශීය ශාක වර්ග, සත්ව වර්ග මෙන්ම වටිනා ඖෂධ පැළෑටිද විශාල වශයෙන් වඳවීමේ ප්‍රවණතාවකට ලක්‌ව ඇතැයි පරිසරවේදීහු මෙන්ම ප්‍රදේශවාසීහු කියති.

http://www.divaina.com/2011/08/05/provin03.html

ජාතික මාර්ග ජාල නඩත්තුවට නිලධාරියෙක්‌ හරස්‌ වෙයි

රොහාන් අබේවර්ධන

කිලෝමීටර් එකොළොස්‌දහසක්‌ වන ජාතික මාර්ග ජාලය වෘත්තීය මට්‌ටමින් හා කාර්යක්‌ෂම ලෙස නඩත්තු කිරීම මාර්ග නඩත්තු භාරකාර අරමුදල හරහා කරගෙන යැමට රජය අපේක්‌ෂා කළද එක්‌ රජයේ උසස්‌ නිලධාරියකුගේ අනුමැතිය ඊට නොලැබීම නිසා එම ව්‍යාපෘතිය ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම මාස ගණනාවක සිට ඇනහිට ඇත. මාර්ග නඩත්තු කිරීමේ වැඩ කටයුතු මාර්ග සංවර්ධන අධිකාරිය මගින් මෙතෙක්‌ සිදු කළ නමුත් එම කටයුත්ත වඩා හොඳින් කාර්යක්‍ෂම ලෙස කරගෙන යැමට ඒ පිළිබඳ විශේෂ දැනුමක්‌ ඇති අයගේද දායකත්වය අවශ්‍ය බැවින් ඊට මාර්ග නඩත්තු භාරකාර අරමුදල සම්බන්ධ කරගෙන ඇති අතර ලෝක බැංකුවද එම කටයුත්තට සහාය දීමට ඉදිරිපත් වී ඇතැයි දැනගන්නට ඇත. 

මාර්ග නඩත්තුව සඳහා සෑම වර්ෂයකම රජය විසින් රුපියල් බිලියන 50 ක්‌ වෙන් කරනු ලබයි.

මාර්ග නඩත්තු භාරකාර අරමුදලට ඇමරිකන් ඩොලර් මිලියන දස ලක්‌ෂ දහයක්‌ වසර 03 ක කාල සීමාවකට ලබාදීමට ලෝක බැංකුව පොරොන්දු වී ඇති අතර එම රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරියාගේ ක්‍රියා කලාපය හේතුකොට ගෙන එම මුදලද අහිමි වීමට ඉඩ ඇතැයිද සෙසු රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන් තුළ බියක්‌ හටගෙන ඇත.

http://www.divaina.com/2011/08/05/news31.html

Press Conference: New toxic chemicals in pesticides (2011-08-04) - කෘෂි රසායනිකවල පවත්නා අහිතකර රසායනික පිළිබඳ නව අනාවරණ

'කෘෂි රසායනිකවල පවත්නා අහිතකර රසායනික පිළිබඳ  නව අනාවරණ' යන මැයෙන් වූ ප්‍රවෘත්ති සාකච්ඡාවක් ධාර්මික ගොවිතැන සඳහා වූ ජාතික ව්‍යාපාර විසින් 2011-08-04 දින කොළඹ දී පවත්වන ලදි. 

මෙහි දී මෙ රට භාවිතයේ ඇති පළිබෝධනාශක ගණනාවක ආසනික්වලට අමතරව සයනියිඩ් හා රසදිය ද ඇතුළත් බව හෙළි වී ඇතැයි අදාළ පර්යේෂකයෝ පෙන්වා දුන්හ. මේ සඳහා සාම්පල පරීක්ෂා කරන ලද්දේ මැලේසියාවේ ක්වාලාලාම්පූර්හි පිහිටා ඇති ජාත්‍යන්තර වශයෙන් පිළිගත් රසායනාගාරයක දී ය.

මේ පුවත්පත් සාකච්ඡාව පිළිබඳව පුවත්පත්වල පළ වූ පුවත් මේ බ්ලොග් අඩවියේ වෙනත් තැනක දැක්වේ. (දිනමිණ හා ලක්බිම) 

ඡායාරූප - අදාළ පුවත්පත් සාකච්ඡාවේ අවස්ථා කිහිපයක්

Photos: Green Movement of Sri Lanka

මෙරට පළිබෝධනාශකවල උග්‍ර විෂ සහිත සයනයිඩ්

ලක්බිම, 2011-08-05, පිටුව 1 හා 6. (www.lakbima.lk)

ආනයනික කෘමි නාශකවල සයනයිඩ්

මේ ද්‍රව්‍යවල සයනයිඩ්, ආසනික් හා රසදිය යන ශරීරයට අහිතකර සංඝටක තුනම අන්තර්ගතයි - රතන හිමි

සමන්මලී ප්‍රියශාන්ති සහ චන්දිමා එදිරිමාන්න

විවිධ බහුජාතික සමාගම් විසින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට ගෙන්වන පලිබෝධ නාශක, කෘමි නාශක හා දිලීර නාශකවල සයනයිඩ් අඩංගු බවට මැලේසියාවේ විද්‍යාගාරයකදී කරන ලද පරීක්ෂණයක් මඟින් තහවුරු කර ඇත.එම ද්‍රව්‍යයන්ගේ ආසනික් ඇත් දැයි පරීක්ෂා කිරීමට මේ පරීක්ෂණය සිදු කළ බවත්, ආසනික්වලටත් වඩා වැඩියෙන් සයනයිඩ් තිබෙන බවට එම පරීක්ෂණ වාර්තාවේ දැක්වෙන බවත් පාර්ලිමේන්තු මන්ත්‍රි අතුරලියේ රතන හිමියෝ ප්‍රකාශ කළහ.

මෙරට භාවිත කරන පලිබෝධ, දිලීර හා කෘමි නාශක වර්ගවල ආසනික් ඇති බවට විද්‍යාඥයින් කණ්ඩායමක් හෙළි කළත් ඒ පිළිබඳව පිළිගත හැකි පර්යේෂණයක් මඟින් තහවුරු කර නැතැයි විවිධ පාර්ශවයන් ප්‍රකාශ කළ හෙයින් මැලේසියාවේ ක්වාලාලමිපූර් නගරයේ පිහිටි ලොව පිළිගත් ජාත්‍යන්තර තත්ත්ව සහතික ලත් විද්‍යාගාරයකදී මේ පරීක්ෂණය සිදු කළ බව උන්වහන්සේ සඳහන් කළහ. අදාළ වාර්තාවට අනුව මේ ද්‍රව්‍යවල සයනයිඩ්, ආසනික් හා රසදිය යන ශරීරයට අහිතකර සංඝටක තුනම අන්තර්ගත වන බව ඔප්පු වී ඇතැයි ද රතන හිමියෝ පැවැසූහ. උන්වහන්සේ මේ කරුණු අනාවරණය කළේ හෙක්ටර් කොබ්බෑකඩුව ගොවි කටයුතු හා පුහුණු කිරීමේ ආයතනයේ දී ඊයේ (04) පැවැති මාධ්‍ය හමුවකදීය.

මේ පරීක්ෂණයට යවන ලද පොහොර සාම්පල් නීතිඥයකු ලවා සහතික කර සීල් තබා මැලේසියාවට ගෙන ගිය බවත් මේ නිසා මෙහිදී කිසිඳු වංචාවක් සිදු නොවූ බවත් රතන හිමියෝ වැඩිදුරටත් ප්‍රකාශ කළහ.

Source: http://www.dinamina.lk/2011/08/05/_art.asp?fn=n11080510

Notices near Anuradhapura wells

To identify wells having safe drinking water:

Nadira Gunatilleke

The Health Ministry will set up notices near wells in the Anuradhapura district to assist people identify safe wells to drink water. This has been done to protect people from skeletal fluorosis and dental fluorosis, a ministry spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the ministry conducted a study on drinking wells in the Anuradhapura district recently and found that water in some wells were unsafe for drinking.
“The study covered 29,777 drinking water wells and discovered that 2,985 wells had over two mgs of fluoride in one litre of water. The normal and healthy value is less than 0.7 mg of fluoride for one litre of drinking water,” the spokesman said.

Around 13,939 wells had safe drinking water with low fluoride value. The value of fluoride found in another 12,863 wells was between 0.7 and 2 which is safe. The ministry will put up name boards on wells which have safe drinking water, the spokesman said.

Excessive intake of fluoride cause skeletal fluorosis and dental fluorosis. Skeletal fluorosis harm bones and dental fluorosis cause abnormal and discoloured teeth. The Health Ministry will also make arrangements to treat youth in Anuradhapura who have discoloured teeth by applying composite on them. That will be done by two teams of doctors.



http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/03/news52.asp

148 jumbo deaths in first half of the year

The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) says that during the first six months of this year 148 jumbo deaths have been reported islandwide mainly due to explosive devices used by hunters, floods and other disasters. 

Out of the total number of deaths, 55 have been reported from the Mahaveli regions. The DWC also states that 21 people have been killed due to jumbo attacks.

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=31636

Mahaweli settlers left in the lurch

By Tissa Gunatillake

The Mahaweli Authority has so far failed to issue deeds to the blocks of land occupied by the settlers, in the Mahaweli C Zone, who had been living there since 1982, Uva Provincial Minister Anura Widanagamage said.

This has caused problems to about 80 per cent of the 30,000 families who were settled in the Mahaweli C Zone, he added.

The settlers are not in a position obtain housing loans, build houses, obtain water service, electricity etc. due to not possessing deeds.

The settlers in the villagers of Girandurukotte, Batalayaya, Rathkinda, Agalaoya and Divapelessa have been severely affected due to this problem.

At a recent mobile service, held in the area, the State officials had assured the settlers that the deeds to their lands would be issued in two weeks, the villagers said.

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=31654

Frequent landslide area under NBRO scrutiny

Disna Mudalige

The National Building and Research Organization (NBRO) has conducted a geological study to control frequent landslides near the 42nd kilometer post of the Peradeniya-Nuwara Eliya road in the Kotmale Divisional Secretariat area. The government has allocated Rs five million for the study. Frequent landslides in this area had been affecting the passers-by and residents for a long time. This issue was brought to the notice of the government by the NBRO.
NBRO landslide studies Head RMS Bandara also stressed that special permission of the NBRO must be sought for any construction in landslide prone areas.


This has been made compulsory by a circular issued early this year. The landslide Prone districts include Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle, Matale, Ratnapura, Kalutara, Galle, Matara and Hambantota.
The NBRO has established 10 regional offices in these districts.



http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/03/news11.asp

Cleaner eateries for commuters

Irangika Range


Arrangements have been made to improve the quality of food and beverages provided by the boutiques and restaurants serving commuters traveling in long distance private buses.


A National Transport Commission’s (NTC) spokesman said that extensive monitoring and methodical food safety checks will be conducted by public health inspectors to check the quality of food and drinks, and facilities at all boutiques and restaurants providing food and beverages for commuters traveling in long distance private buses with the assistance of the Health Ministry.


Each restaurant and boutique serving commutes will be graded according to the safety and quality standards that they maintain following the national quality, health and safety regulations issued by the Health Ministry.
“We inspect the location, cleanliness of work surface, space of the location, air pressure of the location, raw material as well as the ingredients, food temperatures during cooking, storing and delivery of food, oven and refrigerator temperatures, the way in which every dish is washed and ensure every food preparing surface is cleaned. Cleanliness of water, sanitary facilities, waste disposal system, cleanliness and health of the workers, too will be looked into,” he said.
“It is very important to offer clean and good, quality food to the commuters,” he added.


http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/08/04/news51.asp