The Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) in partnership with the Central Environmental Authority deployed a network of six solar-powered water quality telemetry buoys along the historic Hamilton/Dutch Canal in Puttalam today, October 1, 2026.

The historic canal connects regional waterways with the Puttalam Lagoon and serves as a vital hydrological artery traversing dense aquaculture zones, agricultural farmlands, and coastal townships. However, rapid aquaculture expansion and unregulated industrial discharges have occasionally caused localized salinity spikes, oxygen depletion, and chemical contamination that threaten both commercial prawn hatcheries and wild estuarine fisheries.

The newly anchored telemetry buoys feature multi-parameter optical sensors that continuously measure dissolved oxygen, pH levels, electrical conductivity, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and water temperature. Sensor readings are transmitted via cellular telemetry every 15 minutes to an automated environmental monitoring dashboard at MEPA headquarters in Colombo. If water parameters breach established safety thresholds, automated SMS warnings are instantly dispatched to regional environmental inspectors to initiate on-site investigation and enforcement.

MEPA Director General Dr. Terrence Fernando highlighted that real-time environmental surveillance transforms pollution control from reactive complaints into proactive automated enforcement. By safeguarding water quality along the Dutch Canal, the sensor network protects the multi-million-rupee prawn farming industry from devastating waterborne disease outbreaks while preserving delicate mangrove ecosystems across the Puttalam estuary.