Abstract:
Special emphasis has been given on road construction by the National Highways
Sector Project (NHSP) of Sri Lanka i n order to bring socio-economic upliftment.
However, construction and developments of roads of the country create many
environment issues. Rehabilitation and improvement of the NuwaraEliya - Badulla
road which r un through the hilly area were established in 2010. Construction length
of the road was considered to identify the environmental impacts. Slope instability,
hydrological conditions, soil erosion and blasting effects were studied. Disturbance
of the natural drainage systems and making deep cuts and fills across already fragile
slopes were identified as the main causes. Highly unstable slopes are identified in
the Dabalawelahinna area. Dougolla Oya and Gregory Lake are the hilly affected
water bodies of the area. Area around the rock quarry has been affected due to
blasting vibration and high air blast over pressure. Since the vibration of back side
of the quarry is high, landslides can be occurred in future. The life style of species
live in Hakgala strict nature reserve has been disturbed due to noise and vibration.
Prior to the construction of roads in hilly areas, special attention should be paid,
specially on the morphological and geological conditions
Citation:
Adikarii, A.M.H.V., & Pitawala, H.M.T.G.A. (2018). A study on environmental issues due to the development of NuwaraEliya Badulla Road. In A.M.K.B. Abeysinghe & G.V.I. Samaradivakara (Eds.), Proceedings of International Symposium on Earth Resources Management & Environment 2018 (pp. 105-109). Department of Earth Resources Engineering, University of Moratuwa.
