Mannar Island, connected to Sri Lanka’s mainland by a causeway, forms the eastern end of the historically and geographically significant Adam’s Bridge to India. Covering 130–143 km², the island is 26 km long and 6 km wide, with over 100,000 residents. Its coastal communities rely heavily on marine and coastal ecosystems for livelihoods, especially through fisheries and seasonal agriculture.

In 2024, authorities issued Terms of Reference (TOR) for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of a proposed heavy mineral sand mining project and a mineral separation plant in exploration areas EL423 and EL424 on Mannar Island, spanning Upputharavai–Pesalai to South Bar Thalvupadu. The project aims to extract commercially valuable beach minerals, with ilmenite, or “black gold,” as the main target.

Mineral exploration licenses in Sri Lanka have been issued without transparency or fairness, often on a first-come, first-served basis and without meaningful public consultation. The lack of a competitive bidding process has allowed private entities to monopolize resources, violating constitutional principles of equality, fairness, and intergenerational equity, while failing to ensure fair state compensation or adequate environmental safeguards.

Based on the above mentioned consequences, Centre for Environmental Justice and 4 other Petitioners filed a Fundamental Right Petition on 29th of September 2025, challenging the Government decision. The Petitioners request the Supreme Court to Direct authorities to compensate for irreversible environmental damage under the Polluter-Pays Principle and prosecute illegal mining, Cancel all existing mining licenses in the Mannar area, Issue an interim order suspending the TOR and/or mining licenses, Require a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), Conduct a comprehensive, independent, and transparent audit of license and TOR issuance, Recognize that the Mannar sand mining project imminently infringes the judicially recognized rights of nature.