Abstract:
The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) has committed itself to establish 15 or more industrial estates through the Ministry of Industrial Development (MID) at various locations in the island. These industrial estates would house medium and high polluting industries and have central effluent treatment facilities. The GOSL has two main objectives in embarking on this course of action. The first being to generate employment in rural areas by promoting regional development and the second being to minimise the impact of industrial pollution on the environment. The objective of this research was to provide inputs into a conceptual - internal environmental management plan for an actual industrial estate (Waljapala Watta - near Minuwangoda in the Gampha district) identified by the MID. Central to this was the development of an empirical model that could be used to determine the mix of industries that would best suit the location based on the carrying capacity of the environment. For simplicity and clarity in developing the model only two parameters namely air and water quality were considered which are the two important criteria in Sri Lanka's context. Data for development of the model, and specifically for Waljapala Watta, was taken from the initial environmental examination conducted by the Natural Resources and Environmental Policy Project (NAREPP) team. Probable values with reasons for using them were utilised in instances where data was not available. The conclusion that was derived from the model was that this method could be used empirically for determining the mix of the industries for a given location as well as to assess the risk levels involved based on the carrying capacity of the natural environment. For Waljapala Watta the model predicts that the best industrial mix would be any dry processing industries due to the reason that the carrying capacity of the nearest water body Mapalam Oya has a limited carrying capacity based on its minimum flow rates.
