The district of Batticaloa occupies the Central Part of the Eastern Province. It covers a land area of approximately 2633.1 Square Km. and an internal waterway of 229 square Km. The district accounts for 3.8% of the country’s total land area

 b.         Boundaries

North                         :           Verugal Aru & Trincomalee district

East                          :           Bay of Bengal (sea)

South & South West   :           Amparai District

West & North West    :           Polonnaruwa District

  c.         Administrative Division

The District is divided into 14 administrative divisions (Divisional Secretariat Divisions), 348 GN divisions and 965 villages.

 Table 2.9 - Extent, Number of GN Divisions and Villages in each Division

e.         Local Government Units

Number of local government units in the district is 12 (01- Municipal council, 01- Urban council, 10- Pradeshiya sabhas.)

Names of Local Government units

Batticaloa MC                                     Porativupattu PS

Kaththankudi UC                                 Manmunai West PS

Eravur Town PS                                  Manmunai South-West PS

Koralaipattu North PS                          Eravurpattu PS

Koralaipattu PS                                  Eravilpattu PS

Koraleipaththu West PS                      Manmunai PS

Manmunai South

f.          Physical Features

Batticaloa district consists of flat land not exceeding 7.62 meters above sea level. It consists of undulating plains and alluvial flats watered by rivers originating from the mountainous zone of Uva and Central Provinces. The East coast of the District contains sandy soil whereas the West mainly contains clay soil. The land bordering the lagoon consists of alluvial soil. Batticaloa is the only district in the Dry zone which does not have perennial rivers flowing through it. All the streams that flow into the lagoon or the ocean have their water sources originating in the Dry zone itself and consequently run in spate through the North East. The Monsoonal rains recede in the months of July and August resulting in the drying up of Mahilavtuvan river, Mundanai Aru and the Madhuru Oya which feed the large reservoirs of Unnichchai and Rugam.

 g.         The Lagoon

The lagoon which traverses through the District extends 73.5 km from Verugal (in the North) to Batticaloa Town and also extends 35.2 km further from Batticaloa Town to Thuraineelavanai (in the South).

A major part of the population is concentrated in the narrow strip between the sea and the lagoon. The Western part of the lagoon is sparsely populated and 90% of the paddy land is found in this area. Lagoon fishing takes an important place as coastal fishing in the livelihoods of the population. The Batticaloa lagoon is famous for its Crabs and Prawns.

 h.         Forest

The extent of the forest in the District is as follows                           In Hectares. 

Dry Monsoon Forest                                                                           21, 870

Moist Monsoon Forest                                                                        14, 290

Forest Plantation                                                                                 4,700

Mangroves                                                                                          1,606

Sparse Forest                                                                                    18,177

 i.          Climate and Rainfall

Climate and Rainfall

The annual rainfall varies from 864 mm to 3081 mm (50 years’ data), a distribution which has a slight variation throughout the district. Most of the heavy rains are received during the period of October to January and are both inter monsoonal and North East Monsoonal. The Temperature ranges from 25⁰C to 35.4⁰C. 

 Table 2.10 - Temperature in Batticaloa District in ^o C         

  j.          Mineral Resources

Unlike in other districts, the mineral resources available in the Batticaloa district are limited. Among these limited resources are Rock Deposits, Sea shell, Pan grass, Cane, Clay and Forest Timber

 k.         Population

The district has an estimated population of 581,223. Male 281,268 and Female 298,201. The population density is 220.74 persons per square km. Kattankudy DS division records the highest population density while the lowest is recorded in the Koralaipattu North DS division.

Table 2.3 - Division vise Population according to age

 Table 2.4 - Division vise Demographic Details 

Source: Department of Census and Statistics

Table 2.5 – Population Details by ethnicity  

Source: Dept. of Census and Statistics

 Table 2.6 - Percentage Distribution of Population (10 years and over) by Literacy

And Sex (1981 Census)

Source:

l.          Social Structure

A major portion of the population in Batticaloa is engaged in agriculture for income generation while fishing occupies the second place in livelihood activities. Other occupations include industrial activities and employment in the government, corporate and private establishments.

 m.        Health

The Batticaloa town has a teaching hospital with the necessary facilities and bed strength. In addition five private hospitals although small in size, provide a satisfactory service to the public. Peripheral units, district hospitals and Dispensaries function in the rural areas.

 n.         Education

A student population of 133160 attends 334 schools in the district. There are 2466 teachers. The Eastern University Sri Lanka consisting of the faculties of Agriculture, Science, Commerce, Arts and Medicine at Vantharumoolai is the only Higher Educational Center in the district. Tertiary education in technology is provided by the Technical college in Manchanthoduwai and the Eastern Technical Institute situated in the Batticaloa town.

 Table 2.7 - Number of schools

 Table 2.8 - Students studying in GCE (AL) Classes

 o.         Economy

The economy of the district is mostly dependant on agriculture and fishing. The district has about 30,000 agriculture families and about 19281 fishing families.

 Agriculture

There are about 58,374 hectares of paddy land in the Batticaloa district. Between the normal maha and yala seasons, an inter-seasonal cultivation called late Maha (From February to May) is practiced by the farmers in some areas with the help of minor tanks. 

Unichai, Vahaneri, Rugam, Navagiri, Thumpankerny, Kittuwewa, Kaddumuruvu are some of the important major tanks that feed the paddy lands of the district along with numerous minor tanks. 

About 32181.6 hectares of highlands and home gardens (including coconut) have been cultivated throughout the district. The coastal villages from Kurukkalmadam to Kaluwanchikudy at Manmunai South & Eruvilpattu DS division are popular for Onion, Chili, Betel and Vegetable cultivation. 

For decades, Cashew nuts have been the most popular and most important cash crop in the Batticaloa district. Due to the adverse situation that prevailed in the district after the 1990 violence, most of the large plots of cashew land were neglected and abandoned by the owners. As a result, there has been a marked decrease in cashew production. Even though although there is an extent of approximately 32,000 acres available for cashew plantation at present, only a small portion is being utilized. The cashew corporation is working towards surmounting the existing obstacles and bringing cashew cultivation back to its earlier prosperous stage. 

Table 2.11 - Extent of Paddy Cultivation in 2005/ 2006 

Table 2.11 - Cultivated Extent of Paddy – Irrigation Pattern

 p.         Fishing

Fishing is the second largest income generator in the Batticaloa district. The intrusion of the sea into the lagoon is estimated at 56km resulting in the formation of a good fishing environment. The lengthy coastal area suitable bays at long intervals coupled with their rivers and the estuaries, the lagoon and the innumerable tanks and water holes provide ample opportunities for potential development of this industry.

 q.         Infrastructure

 i.          Transportation

Batticaloa boasts of a domestic airport, 15 helipads, a fisheries harbour and a good main and minor road network (9451, 96 Km).

Table 2.14 - Infrastructure – Details of the Road Network

             Table 2.15 - Infrastructure – Details of Consumers of Electricity

 Table 2.16 - Infrastructure – Details of Consumers of pipe borne water

 r.         Industry

Most of the large number of industrial establishments is situated mainly in Batticaloa town and Kattankudy. All these are small scale industries except the National Paper Corporation in Valaichenai, the two Garment factories in Batticaloa Town and one Garment Factory in Valaichenai which are the only four large scale factories.

Weaving, Rice Mill, and Brick Manufacturing are some of the industries that play a main role in the industrial economy of the district. 

Table 2.1 - Other functional areas at a Glance

s.          Hazards

Out of the 14 DS divisions in Batticaloa, 08 DS divisions along the coastal belt are most vulnerable to coastal hazards and floods. Due to the 2004 tsunami, 2975 persons died and 24013 houses were destroyed or damaged. The entire district is vulnerable to cyclones as it is located within in the wind-loading zone. A total of 698 people died and 314960 houses were damaged or destroyed due to the cyclone that took place in 1978.

The other hazards prevailing in the districts are;

a.       Drought

b.      Lighting

c.       Epidemics

d.      Elephant Attacks

e.       Industrial related hazard (Rice mill & Prawn farming)

f.       Human made disaster (Ethnic conflict & War)  

t.          Development

The Batticaloa District is planning to develop as a fisheries and tourism related urban agglomeration, taking into consideration its high potential for tourism development and fisheries expansion. Batticaloa town will developed as a second order service center by 2030, in the proposed hierarchy of urban centers. The conservation of the Batticaloa lagoon and protection from illegal activities will be a priority activity. These interventions would promote and facilitate tourism and fisheries related activities in the lagoon area. Six 3^rd order service centers in Eravur, Vakarai, Karadiyanaru, Valaichenai, Kaluwanchchikudy and Kathankuddy area identified as future development priorities. The population within this cluster, with a land area of 5980 ha, is expected to increase to approximately 820,000 inhabitants by 2030.