Mahakadawara forest land plan sparks alarm as critics warn 250 acres, elephant corridors, lakes, and 19 villages may face disaster.
The Mahakadawara forest land controversy has triggered serious environmental alarm, with claims that nearly 250 acres around Mahakadawara Lake could be handed over to businessmen despite its role in an important elephant habitat and corridor.
While the Ministry of Environment has prepared plans to declare five elephant habitats in the Anuradhapura District as sanctuaries and identify three elephant corridors, a separate plan has reportedly been prepared to destroy the Demaliya-Wandama-Kuda Oya elephant homeland and corridor.
According to the allegations, this plan has been prepared jointly by Monaragala District Parliamentarian Chathuri Gangani and Wellawaya Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Walimunige Nihal.
It is further alleged that the plan was drawn up by Wildlife Conservation Department Wellawaya Elephant Control Unit Wildlife Ranger Nishantha Premanlal, acting under the influence of Chathuri Gangani and Walimunige Nihal.
Through this plan, the Parliamentarian and the Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman are accused of attempting to distribute approximately 250 acres of forest land surrounding Mahakadawara Lake, located within the Wellawaya Divisional Secretariat area in the Monaragala District, among several businessmen.
Former Parliamentarian, former Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries, and former Chairman of the Monaragala District Coordination Committee, Jagath Pushpakumara, was also reportedly prepared to support a plan to facilitate this forest land racket at the request of several government forest land racketeers.
However, critics say it is unimaginable that a government which promised the people scientifically based programmes to control the human-elephant conflict, and pledged not to engage in the kind of racketeering seen under previous governments, would allow such a damaging plan to move forward for narrow objectives.
250 Acres, Three Lakes, 450 Elephants At Risk
The Demaliya-Wandama-Kuda Oya elephant homeland and corridor is considered highly significant because it is a traditional elephant migration route from Lunugamvehera National Park to Handapanagala Lake.
It is also a permanent elephant habitat.
Around 120 elephants live permanently within the forest system that includes Kadawara Lake, Pralu Lake, Demaliya Lake, Hurathgamuwa Lake, and Guneris Lake, spread across 2,694 hectares within and bordering the Demaliya-Wandama-Kuda Oya government forest.
During July, August, and September, approximately 350 elephants are said to migrate through this forest system.
The new plan now allegedly seeks to completely block this elephant migratory route, confine the elephants living in the area to a smaller forest space, and redirect the elephant path from Kuda Oya to Demodara and Handapanagala by cutting through the traditional corridor around Mahakadawara Lake.
Under this plan, the entire forest system of around 250 acres located below Mahakadawara Lake, which would be removed from the elephant corridor, is to be distributed among businessmen.
Environmentalists warn that crossing and disrupting the traditional elephant corridor in this manner would result in elephants losing access to Pralu Lake, Demaliya Lake, and Mahakadawara Lake.
Due to this land distribution, elephants would lose their habitats and be driven toward villages and farmlands in Blocks 16 and 14, including Thelulla, Ethiliwewa, Kithulkote, Ulkanda, Handapanagala, and Pelwatta.
This, critics warn, would create a severe human-elephant conflict.
The proposed new elephant corridor is also reportedly planned to pass through villages in the Buttala Divisional Secretariat area, including Gonagan Ara, Rahathangama, Settlements 15 and 16, Settlements 10 and 20, Kumaragama, Dambewewa, Kukurampola, parts of Rahathangama Blocks 9 and 11, and Thalakolawewa.
This entire area consists of settlements, sugarcane plantations, and paddy fields.
With this plan, Chathuri Gangani and Walimunige Nihal are accused of preparing to expose this entire region to a serious human-elephant conflict.
Legal And Constitutional Concerns
The declaration of the Demaliya-Wandama-Kuda Oya Elephant Management Reserve was originally proposed to secure the habitats of elephants displaced by the Uma Oya Multipurpose Project.
It was also intended to protect elephants traditionally migrating from Lunugamvehera to Handapanagala.
This was included as a key condition in the conditional approval granted by the Central Environmental Authority in 2013 for the Uma Oya Multipurpose Project.
That approval is a legal document, and critics argue that Parliamentarian Chathuri Gangani, Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman Walimunige Nihal, or Wildlife Ranger Nishantha Premanlal have no authority to violate those conditions.
They further argue that this would violate the fundamental right to equality before the law and equal protection of the law under Chapter III of the Constitution.
The plan is also accused of depriving people in several villages of their fundamental rights, including the freedom to live in a chosen location and the right to engage in a lawful profession, occupation, trade, or industry, by creating a human-elephant conflict.
In addition, critics say the proposal violates the principle of State Policy and Fundamental Duties set out in Chapter VI of the Constitution, which states that the State shall protect, preserve, and improve the environment for the benefit of the people.
Instead, they argue, this harmful plan places people in danger and deprives them of well-being by pushing them into the grip of intensified human-elephant conflict.
They say the President and the Minister of Environment must pay urgent attention to these issues.
19 Villages Face A Darker Future
The government’s “Rich Country – Beautiful Life” policy declaration, presented before coming to power, included principles such as environmental justice, fairness, the ecosystem approach, environmental governance, and environmental protection.
It also referred to positive commitments such as declaring sensitive environmental zones to ensure their protection.
The policy further stated that scientific studies on elephant populations, movement patterns, and habitats would be conducted, and that biological and new technological methods would be used to implement public participation programmes to control the human-elephant conflict.
However, critics warn that this destructive plan would subject 12 villages in the Buttala Divisional Secretariat area and seven villages in the Wellawaya and Thanamalwila Divisional Secretariat areas to a severe human-elephant conflict.
They argue that this alleged land racketeering plan by Chathuri Gangani and Walimunige Nihal would deprive the people of 19 villages of the “beautiful life” promised to them.
To prevent this, environmental advocates propose that the Mahakadawara Lake land racket allegedly involving Chathuri Gangani and Walimunige Nihal be completely stopped.
They also call for the Demaliya-Wandama-Kuda Oya government forest to be urgently declared an Elephant Management Reserve, with steps taken to secure Kadawara Lake and the entire connected forest system.
They have urged Minister of Environment Dammika Patabendi and Deputy Minister Anton Jayakody to give immediate attention to the matter.
If this harmful plan is implemented on Environment Day, June 5, critics warn it will become a historic mistake by the current government and could greatly intensify the human-elephant conflict in the Monaragala District.
