Colombo: Standing next to a tall, wired fence, Sinnathurai Chitravelayutham gazes at his farming land, which he has been unable to use for nearly 20 years. “Don’t ask me how I feel, I’ll get upset,” the 68-year-old rice farmer from Sampur in eastern Sri Lanka’s Trincomalee District told DW. Chitravelayutham was forced to flee his homeland in April 2006 when the area endured heavy shelling during Sri Lanka’s civil war.
According to Deutsche Welle, the land has now been earmarked for a new solar power plant, a joint project between Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and India’s state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake inaugurated the project during Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka in April. The decision has sparked a battle for compensation among the local farmers who have been unable to reclaim their ancestral lands.
Kandumani Lavakusarasa, the coordinator of the AHAM Humanitarian Resource Center in Trincomalee, revealed that over 500 acres are allocated for the solar power plant, with 147 acres previously used as farming land by villagers like Chitravelayutham, and a further 58 acres as residential land. The Governor of the Eastern Provinces Media Division stated that “legal action” is underway to provide compensation to rightful claimants who can prove their legal status with appropriate documentation.
Despite having temporary deeds, villagers face challenges as the Divisional Secretariat demands original deeds and survey plans before processing claims. The villagers, who have requested the return of their fertile lands, argue that alternative land would not meet the same agricultural standards.
In a statement, the Muthur Divisional Secretariat (DS) disclosed that only two compensation applications had been received without confirmation of processing, and 33 individuals have requested that their land be returned. The DS mentioned that steps would be taken to provide alternative land to those proven to be landless.
Dhammike Wimalaratne, spokesperson for the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), claimed ignorance of any land ownership claims but emphasized the importance of addressing rightful ownership through the Divisional Secretariat. Despite efforts to contact India’s NTPC and government officials, no response was received.
The solar plant replaces a previously planned coal power plant, which was abandoned in 2016 following public backlash. AHAM coordinator Lavakusarasa noted that the local population initially hoped to regain their land after the coal plant project was scrapped. Villager Chitravelayutham, who supported President Dissanayake’s Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party, expressed disappointment over the government’s inaction.
Chitravelayutham believes the decision to build in Sampur is politically motivated, but refrains from criticizing India, holding the Sri Lankan government accountable for resolving the land issue. Alakurasa Mathan, deputy coordinator of the AHAM Humanitarian Resource Center, suggested India’s security interests as a driving force behind the collaboration, doubting the project’s fruition.
The Governor’s Media Division dismissed allegations of targeting Tamil areas and India’s security motives, asserting there is no intent to inconvenience any specific group. Villager Namasivayam Sivapatham expressed skepticism over compensation plans and lamented the potential loss of generational landownership, underscoring the importance of farming for sustenance over electricity generation.