Sri Lanka’s Survey Department has issued a public notice announcing that 11.2657 hectares of land in Devathuravu, Maruthankerni, will be surveyed as part of a land acquisition process under the Land Acquisition Act.
The land, amounting to around 27.8 acres, is situated within the Maruthankerni J/428 Grama Niladhari Division in Vadamaradchi East.
The notice states that the land has been identified as being required for a “public purpose”, but does not specify what that purpose is.
According to the notice, the survey will be carried out pursuant to Survey Request No. VE/SR/2026/27, dated 21 May 2026, submitted by the Divisional Secretary, and in accordance with the Ministry of Lands and Land Development Gazette reference No. 4-3/4/2012/D/351.
The land parcel, known as “Devathuravu”, is to be surveyed in line with Survey Plan Ya/VDE/2016/36.
The notice states that survey work will begin from 9 July 2026 and continue on every working day from 9am until the completion of the day’s work.
Any person claiming ownership or legal interest in the land has been requested to appear with relevant land documents, identify the boundaries of the property and cooperate with the survey process.
The notice comes amid long-standing concern over the use of administrative mechanisms, survey notices and acquisition procedures to transfer Tamil land to the Sri Lankan state under the language of “public purpose”.
Across the North-East, Tamil landowners and civil society groups have repeatedly warned that surveying often marks the first step towards permanent acquisition, particularly in areas already affected by militarisation, displacement or state-backed demographic and economic restructuring.
Vadamaradchi East has already seen similar concern over land surveying.
In Suthanthirapuram last year, Tamil residents raised alarm after Sri Lankan Navy personnel reportedly began surveying land in the J/435 Grama Niladhari Division without prior notice to local authorities or property owners.Residents said navy personnel had surveyed fishing grounds and privately owned lands long held by Tamil families, while demanding documentary proof of ownership from locals whose families had lived on the land for generations.
The use of the Land Acquisition Act has also drawn broader opposition across the Tamil homeland.
The Sri Lankan government was forced last year to revoke a controversial land acquisition gazette following sustained resistance from Tamil political representatives and civil society.
That gazette had laid the groundwork for the declaration of thousands of acres of land in the Northern Province as state property, including land in Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Mannar. Tamil politicians and residents condemned the move as a state-backed land grab aimed at dispossessing Tamil families and accelerating Sinhala-Buddhist colonisation in the North-East.
The revoked gazette had targeted more than 5,900 acres of land, including 934 acres in Mullivaikkal, where tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in the final weeks of the Mullivaikkal genocide. Tamil leaders warned at the time that the state had repeatedly advanced land seizures through bureaucratic means, retreating only when faced with organised resistance before returning with new notices, surveys or administrative claims.
Land surveys have also been resisted elsewhere in the North-East.
In Mandaithivu, residents blocked a surveying attempt linked to the expansion of a Sri Lankan naval base, forcing officials to abandon the process. In Karainagar, Tamil residents chased out land surveyors after officials attempted to survey land belonging to dozens of families for transfer to the Sri Lankan army.
The proposed acquisition at Devathuravu now adds to the growing list of land-related disputes in the North-East, where the Sri Lankan state continues to face accusations of using law, administration and security claims to consolidate control over Tamil land.
