Report of the fact finding mission on water pollution conducted on 14th

March 2015 by the Sri Lanka Medical Association

1.1 Results of the observations and interviews during the field visit to Jaffna
Chunnakam area
The field visit was led by Dr.B. Kumarendran who directed the participants to the affected village and
to the area with power plants. Seven houses were visited and well water was examined by naked
eye and some showed a thin film of oil. Most residents stated that the problem was present for the
past 2 years and greasiness of water appears to have reduced now. People attributed the reduction
of oil due to te recent rains. lSome had tested their well water for oil through the Water Supply and
Drainage Board (WSDB) with each test costing them Rs 2000/- and the reports indicated oil
contamination of water. The permissible upper limit of oil was 0.2mg/L and this is the cut off value
considered by the WSDB for safe water.

Some of the affected wells in the Chunakkam area

In those areas large plastic water tanks were present at intervals which were filled up by bowsers
funded through the PradeshiyaSabha. But the people who were collecting water from the plastic
tanks expressed their concern on the quality of water provided by bowsers.

They also stated that there was a large (Oil pond) next to the power plant which
disappeared about two years ago as a sub-station was erected on the original oil kulam area. Google
maps have shown the presence of the oil Kulam and are considered adequate evidence for its earlier
presence. It was widely believed that some deep boring was done to remove the oil and this may
have led to the contamination of deep waters in aquifers.
On interviewing the villages to determine their concerns, they stated that they are worried about
the limited water supplies in aquifers, quality of water provided through bowsers, having to pay for
water in the future, and about chronic diseases that may be consequent to consuming contaminated
water. They were expecting a both short and long term solutions to their water requirements, which
they believed was a basic need.

During the visit to the area where the 2 power plants were housed indicated that Northern power
plant has stopped its activities following an order issued by the Magistrate Court, Mallakam. The
entry to the power plant premises was not possible as it was not open to visitors. This may have
resulted due to some affected residents filing court cases against the power plant incriminating it as
the source of contamination of their well water.We also observed the new transformer structures

The team also visited the MOH Office Uduvil and perused the water analysis reports obtained from
the WSDB. Many reports indicated very high level of oil and grease as well as nitrates.

station
1.2 Minutes of the Discussion forum on Water Pollution in Jaffna-
Chunakkam
The Discussion forum on water Pollution in Jaffna, which was organized by the Sri Lanka
Medical Association,in collaboration with Jaffna Medical Association was held on Saturday,
the 14th March 2015, from 1.45pm to 5.30pm, at the Medical Faculty Hostel Auditorium of
University of Jaffna.

The forum was chaired by Prof. Jennifer Perera, the President, Sri Lanka Medical Association
and the Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, with DrMuraliVallipuranathan
President, Jaffna Medical Association.

Figure 1Prof. Jennifer Perera, President, SLMA and Dr.V.Murali, President, JMA at the
Discussion Forum on Water Pollution in Jaffna.

The discussion started with Prof.

Dr.B.Kumarendran, Lecturer, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University
of Kelaniya and Dr. Murali, the President, Jaffna Medical Association, for their valuable
contribution in organizing this discussion forum on behalf of Sri Lanka Medical Association.
She also explained that SLMA has decided to provide leadership in this issue following
several requests from different stakeholders. Then she asked the participants to introduce
themselves with their designations if any and professional affiliations.

The following were at the forum to discuss and express their views on the current problem.

1. Prof.Jennifer Perera, the President, SLMA and the Dean, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Colombo.
2. Dr.V. MuraliValllipuranathan, the President, Jaffna Medical Association and
Consultant Community Physician
3. Dr. S. Chandrakumar, President Elect, Jaffna Medical Association
4. Prof. D.H. Gunawardene, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Colombo
and the President, Ceylon College of Chemists
5. Prof. N. Sivarajah, Professor in Community Medicine, University of Jaffna.
6. Dr. InokaSuraweera, CCP, Directorate of Environmental and Occupational Health,
Ministry of Health
7. Dr. NovilWijesekara, Senior Registrar, Disaster Preparedness and Response Unit,
Ministry of Health
8. Dr. Kumarendran, Lecturer, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Keleniya
9. Dr. C.S. Nachchinarkininan, Public Health Specialist in Jaffna.
10. Dr. S. Ketheeswaran, Provincial Director of Health Services, Northern Province.
11. Dr.Sumanaweera, National Program Officer, World Health Organization, Sri Lanka.
12. Dr. JagathSenaratne, Public Interest Law Foundation
13. Ms. VijithaSathyakumar,Deputy Director, Northern Provincial Office of the Central
Environmental Authority
14. Dr. Manoranjan, Head, Department of Chemistry, University of Jaffna
15. Dr. Mayurathan, President, GMOA Jaffna branch and Consultant Forensic Pathologist
16. Dr. N.N.Kamalarajan, Secretary, GMOA Jaffna branch
17. Dr. G. Senthuran, MOH, Point Pedro and Secretary, GMOA RDHS Jaffna Division
18. Mr. S. Ravi, Assistant Director, Disaster Management Unit, District Secretariat, Jaffna
19. Dr. R. Surenthirakumaran, Head, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of
Medicine, University of Jaffna.
20. Mr.Nihal. J.Fernando, Retired Engineer from National Water Supply and Drainage
Board.
21. Eng. Bharathythasan, District General Manager, National Water Supply and Drainage
Board, Jaffna.
22. Representatives from the Water Resources Board
23.
a. Eng. Sooriyasekaram
b. Mr. Maduarai Mani, Chemist
c. Mr. V. Niranjan, Accountant
24. Dr.S.Sivakumar, the President, Sri Lanka Institute of Engineering, Northern Region,
and the Head, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Jaffna
25. Eng. S. Gnanaganeshan, Area Engineer, Ceylon Electricity Board
26. Mr.Thayaparan, Representative from UNICEF, Killinochchi
27. Dr. Sritharan, President, Jaffna RDHS Division GMOA Branch Union, Consultant
Physician, Base Hospital Chavakachcheri
28. Dr. G. Senthuran, Secretary, Jaffna RDHS Division GMOA Branch Union.
29. Dr. Jeyakumar (MOH, Uduvil)
30. Dr. Jeyaseelan (MOH, Kopay)
31. Dr. Mayurathan (President, GMOA Jaffna and Consultant Forensic Pathologist)
32. Dr. NN Kamalarajan (Secretary, GMOA, Jaffna)
33. Mr. Ravi (Assistant Director, Disaster Management Unit, District Secretariat, Jaffna)
34. Representatives from the Jaffna lay community
35. Dr. Jeyanthakmar (Pre-intern doctor)

Participants at the Discussion Forum on Water Pollution in Jaffna

Following the introductory session, Prof. Jennifer Perera explained the importance of
this fact finding mission. She stated that Health is not merely the absence of disease. She
also stressed the importance of having a collaborative effort by the different
stakeholders of the community and government in finding solutions to this problem. She
said that SLMA is willing to explore this situation in a holistic manner in order to make
recommendation for the relevant authorities in solving this issue both in the short term
and the long term. Thereafter, Prof. Jennifer Perera invited Dr. Murali, the President,
Jaffna Medical Association to express his views and concerns.
Dr. Murali stated that the Ministry of Health has already analyzed 25 water samples
from different wells of the affected areas in which all the samples turned out to be
positive for significant level of oil and grease. Following this Prof. Jennifer Perera asked
Dr. InokaSuraweera, CCP, Directorate of Environmental and Occupational Health,
Ministry of Health, to provide the details of the report of the above analysis.

Dr.Inoka also stated that 25 well water samples from the 4 different MOH areas (Uduvil,
Tellipallai, Sandillipai and Kopay) of the affected site were collected and analyzed. All the
25 samples became positive for oil and grease. She also pointed out that the equipment
with the Government Analyst is only able to detect oil and grease above 1mg/L whereas
the cut off value for oil and grease in drinking water is 0.2mg/L.

Following this, Prof. Jennifer Perera discussed about the field visit to the affected
areasand the surrounding area of two power plants, UthuruJanani (CEB) and Northern
Power Plant (business venture by a subsidiary of Walkers Limited). Both are located in
close proximity to each other and briefed the audience about the perceptions of people
living in the affected areas which included anxiety, fear of disease and anger towards
culprits. She also briefly stated the goals of the mission as follows

1. Cease the progression of pollution

2. Provide alternative water resources to the affected people
3. Draw out a sustainable plan to provide safe water

Thereafter, Prof. Jennifer Perera invited Dr. Sumanweera, the representative from WHO
to share his view. In his address, he said that WHO is always there to support the local
authorities in the endeavors to maintain health. He also stated that
environmentalpollution is becoming a global problem. He said that he is instructed not
to comment on the ongoing process to solve this issue until clear facts are obtained and
analyzed.

Dr. Sumanaweera, the representative from WHO, addressing the Discussion Forum
Following this Mr.N.J.Fernando, retired engineer from National Water Supply and
Drainage Board who has a vast experience in dealing with the issue of water pollution
and chronic kidney disease in North Central Province, expressed his view regarding this
issue. He stated that environmental safety standards are being violated by the industries
leading to pollution and consequent ill health. He said that water polluting industries
should not be allowed in Jaffna peninsula since it is difficult to protect the limestone
aquifers, which are the main source of water in Jaffna Peninsula.

Thereafter Dr.S.Sivakumar, the President, Sri Lanka Institute of Engineering, Northern

Region and the Head, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Jaffna, stated that
the main issue is to remove the hydrocarbons from the polluted water sources. He
emphasized the need for a systematic and scientific survey to be done over a
(reasonably) long period of time. The concept is to sample water from drinking wells in a
series of circles of different diameters radiating outwards from the polluting entity. The
polluting entity (in this case a power station) should be located at the centre of the set
of circles. The radius of the circles could be, in increasingorder, at 500 metre intervals.

In response to this Dr. JagathSenaratne, from Public Interest Law Foundation

suggestedthat the water wells should be on specific compass Headings i.e. when
moving clockwise: North , North-East, East, South-East, South, South-West, West, North-
West, and then back again to theNorth. He also said that if funding permits, on other
axes in-between as well.
would be the abili
useful for some other purpose in the future, eg. Water management task by the Water
Board, agricultural purpose, nitrate over-use and pollution of drinking water, etc. The
above survey could be carried-out by a group of Jaffna University students as a part of
their M.Sc studies, and/or as a part of their undergraduate projects. The above would be
of benefit for the future quite independent of the drinking water pollution in
Chunnakam Area.

Dr.S.Sivakumar, also stated that the power generators that had been used by the
Northern Power were of marine generator types which has sulphur in their effluent. This
sulphur containing effluent can react with the limestone and pave the path for the oil
and grease to spread throughout the limestone aquifer. He also questioned the role of
the Water Resources Board in this issue as aquifers come under water resources. On
answering this, the representative from the Water Resources Board said that they do
not have the facilities to check oil and grease in water samples even though they
havethe mandate to do so.

Following this discussion, Prof. Jennifer Perera invited Ms. VijithaSathyakumar,Deputy

Director, Northern Provincial Office of the Central Environmental Authority, to share her
view. The deputydirector stated that they are being blamed as the culprit by the other
stakeholders. She also said that even though CEA was established in Sri Lanka in 1981, it
was only able to start its data collection in Jaffna in 2004 due to the war situation
prevailed in the country. It was only in 2010, the CEA was able establish functioning
properly in Jaffna. CEA is considered as the regulatory body of the National Environment
Act. According to this the industries are divided in to three categories; A, B and C.
Electric power plants which comes under Category A which is considered as a high
polluting industry, have to have Environment Protecting License and Environment
Impact Assessment (EIA) by the CEA. But to conduct an EIA, the power plant should be
generating 25 or more MW of electricity. Since the both power stations are below this,
EIA was not done. The northern power plant was generating 16 MW and the
UthuruJanani 24MW and therefore was below the level of requirement for a EIA. Eng.
Nihal Ferdinand queried from the CEA Deputy Director of the criteria under which the effluent is
discharged in the Northern Power Plant. She responded that the effluent is discharged under
irrigation category. Eng. Nihal told that an effluent contaminated with oil cannot be released to
the environment for irrigation purpose

Several members of the audience expressed their disappointment on this matter. She
also added that UhturuJanani which is being managed by CEB has to obtain annual
Environment Protecting License issued by the CEA to function. She said that since the
Northern Power which comes under the Board of Investment, the environment impact
assessment was done by their own Environmental Department and provision was given
under inland irrigation standard since the effluent is with this limit.

Dr. N.J.Fernando, retired engineer from National Water Supply and Drainage Board,
challenged this provision. CEA representative maintained that under the current
provisions it is possible to do so. She also stated that zoning has not been done in Jaffna
which makes matters difficult. She also stated that CEA is working towards taking legal
action to prosecute the other polluting industries like the Teaching Hospital Jaffna for its
hazardous way of clinical waste management.

Dr.Kumarendran stressed the importance of collaborative partnership of the different

stakeholders to overcome issues like above with consolidated action. Dr.S.Sivakumar
also stated that collaborative partnership is important in Sri Lanka being a country with
limited resources. He also pointed out that repeated testing of water samples without
an action plan is futile.

Following this, the District General Manager of National Water Supply and Drainage
Board, in his address stated that NSWD is currently unable to provide water sample
testing free of charge.Thereafter, Dr.Murali, the JMA President, raised the question
about the process of the study of well water samples for lead, in which 5 out of 50 were
positive for lead.

Prof. Gunawardene, Emeritus Professor from University of Colombo and the President,
Ceylon College of Chemists, reminded that the important aim is to protect the safe
water for future. He also stated that gradual reduction of oil and grease levels in water is
a possibility so that monitoring is mandatory.

Mr. S. Ravi, Assistant Director, Disaster Management Unit, District Secretariat,

Jaffnastated that in order to reduce the panic of the people it is important to create
awareness and provide education among public regarding this issue. He also stated that
it is important not only to create awareness about the ill health effect of the
consumption of this polluted water, but also to make them aware how to protect
themselves.

Answering to the above question Dr. NovilWijesekara, Senior Registrar, Disaster

Preparedness and Response Unit, Ministry of Health, stated that health education
material is on process of being developed.

Then Dr. G. Senthuran, Secretary, GMOA RDHS Jaffna, expressed his concerns on the
needfor health education material to be approved by the Ministry as it is taking a
substantial period of time. Dr.Novil, disagreed with this statement stating that this issue
being a sensitive and much unexplored one, it is the responsibility of the authorities that
the correct message goes in a cautious way without creating unnecessary sensation.

Following this,Dr. S. Ketheeswaran, Provincial Director of Health Services, who was the
immediate past RDHS explained about the measures taken to create public awareness. A
task force on this issue was formed by the Ministry of Agriculture. This appointed a
subcommittee on health education. This subcommittee received suggestions from
different stakeholders. Then, they decided to educate the people not to use
contaminated water for drinking and cooking. This message was carried out through the
MOHs with the help of their Public Health Inspectors. He also stated that they have
initiated a surveillance programme to monitor the adverse effects of the polluted water.

overcome the water scarcity that will be expected in the months of June, July and
August, activated charcoal filter can be used to purify the domestic water. They also
suggested the use of bio sand filter for this purpose. However, the efficacy and the cost
concerns have to be analyzed.

Mr.N.J.Fernando also pointed out the use of reverse osmosis plants not only to
overcome the issue of oil and grease, but also to overcome the use of nitrates. He also
shared his experience regarding the use of community operated reverse osmosis plants
in North Central Province.

The representatives from the CEA raised the question regarding the effluent of the RO
plants. They expressed their concerns over the concentrated effluent being disposed on
to the ground. However, in response to this, several members of the audience said that
the annual rainfall will be helpful in washing out the concentrated effluent. Also they
stated that RO plants are supposed to be used as a temporary measure on a short term
scale, until permanent solutions are established.

The representatives from the Jaffna community also stated that the plan to
desalinization of sea water is like providing eskimo with refrigerator. Sri Lanka being a
country with abundant fresh water resources, it is well possible to supply fresh water
from the main land to the Jaffna Peninsula. In response to this, DGM, NWSD said that
NSWD has a project to supply safe water to peninsula within the next three years. All the
members of the audience appreciated this.

Dr.Novil from the Ministry of Health, stated that the water resources of the Jaffna
peninsula are contaminated with oil, nitrates, coliforms and heavy metals. He also said
that addressing this issue collectively is vital to avoid the ill health effects. He also stated
that even though it is confirmed that there is oil contamination, the chemical structure
of the contaminating hydrocarbons has not been studied. He further stressed that it is
important to study the composition of the hydrocarbons to expedite the corrective
measures as this is dependent on the toxicity of the hydrocarbon.

Dr. Mayurathan, the President of the GMAO Jaffna, stated that collaboration of the
local authorities, central government, WHO and the other NGOs is necessary to solve
this issue. In response to this Prof. Jennifer Perera stressed the importance of the
formation of a multisectorial committee including all the stakeholders in Jaffna.

Dr.Kumerendran, on behalf of Prof.Gunawardene, suggested the necessity for the

creation of a public domain including the details of the ongoing and published research
activities. He also suggested to avoid the consumption of water from the affected
limestone aquifer and to obtain water from other aquifers from the Jaffna peninsula.

In response to this, Eng. Bharathythasan, District General Manager, National Water

Supply and Drainage Board, stated that it is impossible to share the limestone aquifer
resources due to technical issues related to limitations in water in other aquifers.
 Dr.Senthuran, the secretary of the GMOA Jaffna RDHS expressed his concerns over not
declaring the affected area as a disaster zone. In response to this, Dr.Noel stated that
the affected area does not fulfill the necessary criteria for it to be called a disaster zone
by the Disaster management Act. He also raised the question on the additional benefits
that are expected to gain by declaring a disaster zone. In response to this, Dr.Senthuran
stated that if the disaster zone is declared, it will be easier to obtain the necessary help
from the different stakeholders.

Dr.Kumrendran also stated that it is important to bring up necessary legal amendments

whenever we come across new challenges. Eg changes to laws and regulations in
relation to operation of BOI industries.

Several representatives from the community expressed the credibility of the different
water suppliers. In response to this, DGM NWSD said that the current provisions do not
allow them to interfere with the local government activities on water supply.

The representative from the UNICEF also expressed their support in the future activities.

To conclude the meeting, the president of the Jaffna Medical Association presented
their recommendations that were discussed and the suggestions to overcome the
current issue. He also thanked the different stake holders for their valuable presence.

1.3 List of recommendations proposed at the discussion forum

In the immediate future:

1. Provide safe water to the affected areas.
2. Monitor the quality of the supplied water.
3. Try to get water from the aquifers other than the Valihamam aquifersince it can
collapse
4. Define this as a disaster affected zone or as a risk prone zone
5. Anticipate the problems of the water sources during the drought season in the
upcoming months
6. Create Awareness among public through MOH

In the medium term:

1. Need multi specialty support, liaise with the Central government and other NGOs
2. Look for the possibility of or providing household level purification through use of
bio sand filters for home use after testing its efficacy
3. Look for the possibility of community based reverse osmosis water purification
plants
 4. Need to have continuous monitoring of each source at 3 monthly interval with at
least 10 identified sites to determine progress of contamination
5. Need to identify the individual components in the hydrocarbons to determine their
health effects
6. Need for having a training of the trainers programmesfor the MOHs
7. Implement active and passive surveillance reporting system on the adverse health
effects of use of the contaminated water
8. Find measures to tackle if a pollution is due to a Board of Investment project
9. Consider and act against otherpossible pollutants
10. Need to check for the heavy metal
11. Need to create awareness on technical aspects of pollution in the public domain

In the long term:

12. Reconsider the establishment of commercial reverse osmosis plants as it cost
around 50 cents / liter
13. Government should review the Board of Investment exemption from environmental
assessments as informed by CEA representative
14. Possibility of establishing a permanent water supply system in 3 years
15. Need to ensure that the Government Analyst Department develop facilities to detect
oil level upto 0.2 mg/liter as at current point the lowest limit detectable is 1mg/liter

7. Dealing with the Problems of waste disposal in the hospitals and the swage disposal
systems
8. Use of strong anion exchange resins to remove nitrates
9. Reconsider the allowance of commercial plants establish RO plants
10. Government should review the BOI exception in environmental aspects

Compiled by DrJeyantha Kumar Rasaratnam, Demonstrator, Faculty of Medicine,

Colombo and reviewed by Professor Jennifer Perera ,President SLMA and and Dr B
Kumarendran

3rd April 2015

Very Important Note:- For very good visibility and circulation among several cross
sections of professionals I (Dr(Eng)S S Sivakumar one of the team member) upload this
report in my Research Gate Profile as a report and share in FB, LinkedIn, g+ and Twitter

View publication stats