Rural programme
Unauthorised Land Occupation
Reporting, inspection and resolution of encroachment on state land within the division.
State land in the division includes reservations along tanks and roads, forest land and unalienated crown land. Encroachment is handled as an administrative matter first, with legal action used only where occupation continues after notice.
How the programme works
Reporting
Any resident may report suspected encroachment to the Grama Niladhari officer of the division, in person on the weekly public day or by telephone.
Field inspection
The officer inspects the site with the land officer, establishes boundaries against the survey plan and records the extent and nature of the occupation.
Notice to vacate
Where occupation is confirmed as unauthorised, a formal notice is issued under the State Lands (Recovery of Possession) Act, giving a period to vacate.
Regularisation or recovery
Long-standing occupation by landless families may be regularised through a permit where the land is not reserved. Otherwise possession is recovered and the land restored.
Reports are not published openly
Each of the 45 Grama Niladhari divisions files a fortnightly return recording whether any unauthorised occupation occurred. Where it has, the report names the parcel, the people responsible and the witnesses.
Because those reports concern named individuals and pending matters, they are visible only to subject officers and the Secretariat.