COLOMBO — As the waves creep closer to his home in Kankesanthurai, in Sri Lanka’s northernmost Jaffna Peninsula, 41- year-old Seelan Kandeepan recalls how the sea continuously consumes what was once a thriving shoreline. His family has lived in this coastal village for generations, but now they struggle daily with an ever-changing coastline. “I’ve seen the ocean take away our land, little by little. The extent of land we had a decade ago has reduced. The water has turned saltier, and the well water is no longer fit for drinking and cultivation,” he says. Kandeepan’s family and many others in the northern peninsula are facing worsening conditions, where rising temperatures, coastal erosion and increasing salinity are real. Besides erosion, saltwater intrusion is contaminating water sources. Mullaitivu, a coastal district in northern Sri Lanka, where continued heavy rains in November 2024 flooded homes, submerged roads and displaced residents. Image by Sahana David Menon. Jaffna battles erosion and inundation According to a 2020 study, Jaffna Peninsula’s reliance on groundwater is under strain, with rising salinity rendering 59% of wells unfit for farming and drinking. Once-thriving agricultural lands are now disappearing, with 43 % of paddy fields abandoned as irrigation sources fail, the research suggests. Overextraction and weak barriers fuel saltwater intrusion, leaving many coastal wells increasingly saline. “We spend a lot of money to buy drinking water. It is huge crisis,” says Karthiga, 44, a homestay owner in Jaffna’s sacred Nallur city. T.N. Sooriyarajah, the deputy director at Jaffna district’s disaster management…This article was originally published on Mongabay
The post Sri Lanka communities left gasping for climate mitigation support first appeared on EnviroLink Network.