SL Military has seized the area from 21 Tamil families since 1990. On 20 July, the uprooted Tamils confronted the SL Survey Department officials who were brought silently to survey the lands for permanent seizure. The SL Navy is trying to consolidate its ‘Naval Detachment’ and several other points along the coast of Mannaar, which is commanding both the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannaar as well as commanding the closest communication line with the Tamil Nadu coast