Govt plans compensation or land allocation for people in landslide-hit areas

The Land Commissioner General’s Department (LCGD) in Sri Lanka is starting a survey of areas hit by Cyclone Ditwah, focusing on those affected by landslides. According to Chandana Ranaweera Arachchi, the Commissioner General of Lands, these lands will be re-evaluated after being marked as reservations or protected areas. He explained that if lands in identified risk zones are classified as reservations, the LCGD is ready to either offer compensation based on their value or provide alternative land to owners with valid grants or permits. He also mentioned that the Department has requested information about the affected lands from District Secretaries in the impacted areas. Additionally, the Department has found that some people are living on government land without permission, and they plan to include these unauthorized occupants in their assessment and resolution efforts. Instructions about these actions have already been sent to land offices in the regions hit by the disaster.