Report of the fact finding mission on water pollution conducted on 14th March 2015 by the Sri Lanka Medical Association 1.1 Results of the observations and interviews during the field visit to Jaffna Chunnakam area The field visit was led by Dr.B. Kumarendran who directed the participants to the affected village and to the area with power plants. Seven houses were visited and well water was examined by naked eye and some showed a thin film of oil. Most residents stated that the problem was present for the past 2 years and greasiness of water appears to have reduced now. People attributed the reduction of oil due to te recent rains. lSome had tested their well water for oil through the Water Supply and Drainage Board (WSDB) with each test costing them Rs 2000/- and the reports indicated oil contamination of water. The permissible upper limit of oil was 0.2mg/L and this is the cut off value considered by the WSDB for safe water.
Some of the affected wells in the Chunakkam area In those areas large plastic water tanks were present at intervals which were filled up by bowsers funded through the PradeshiyaSabha. But the people who were collecting water from the plastic tanks expressed their concern on the quality of water provided by bowsers. They also stated that there was a large “oil kulam� (Oil pond) next to the power plant which disappeared about two years ago as a sub-station was erected on the original oil kulam area. Google maps have shown the presence of the oil Kulam and are considered adequate evidence for its earlier presence. It was widely believed that some deep boring was done to remove the oil and this may have led to the contamination of deep waters in aquifers.