With the Wilachchiya reserve dry for three years, 'We only ask for water', locals say
The area is a popular destination with tourists. The settlement was created in the 1950s. Most residents are Buddhists involved in inland fishing and farming. Residents have proposed different solutions to the authorities, without getting an answer.
Wilachchiya (AsiaNews) – "The only thing we ask for is water," said people in Wilachchiya, a village located near a Sri Lankan nature reserve, speaking to AsiaNews.
Because the rains have not fallen for three years, the area is dry and the life of residents has been seriously compromised.
The once lush and luxuriant village, dedicated to farming and inland fishing, today is only a distant memory.
Some local farmers describe a desperate life with tears in their eyes. "We are forced to buy water from outside,” residents complain. “The only thing we need is water. Let us go back to live as before."
The reserve is located in the central-northern province, near the historic city of Anuradhapura. On one side it borders Mannar, Puttalam and Vavuniya, on the other side with the Vilpattu Sanctuary, a national park.
Legend has it that its origins go back to 140 AD when Prince Saliya, an epic character in the island’s history, lived on the banks of local rivers.
Most of the residents moved here in the 1950s, as part of a resettlement project launched by then Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake.
At that time, the plan included providing three acres of paddy-field to each family and two acres of land to make their livelihood.
Most residents are Buddhists but there are also 35 Catholic families.
According to the Ven Pemaduwe Sumangala Thero, a monk who heads the Purana Rajamaha Viharaya temple, "there are Buddhists, Catholics and mixed families. All have always lived together peacefully, without any confessional division."
In the 1970s there was a first period of drought, but it did not cause great damage to the means of subsistence. At present though, the lack of precipitation has caused the loss of six crops and has had serious repercussions on the lives of residents.
"The existence of 400 families of fishermen is heartrending,” said Ven Pemaduwe Sumangala Thero.
Other village elders report that another problem on top of water shortages is drug addiction, illegal drugs brought in by young people who moved to cities looking for work.
“Drug addiction is a new disaster,” said Ven Sumangala. “Heroin, marijuana, and other drugs have arrived."
Illegal drugs can be found in the fishing village of Randuuwa for example. "Because of the lack of water, many young people have left the village to feed their families. But many returned with illegal drugs, which were never seen before here,” said Fr Rangana Mahesh, assistant parish priest at the local church.
For both the Buddhist monk and the Catholic priest, one solution would be "Draining water from the Thalawa canal, use the Linda Wewa reservoir through the Mahaweli stream, or connect a 500-metre tunnel from the Malwathu Oya pump to the Wilachchiya reservoir."
"We have suggested all these solutions to both the president and the officials in charge, but still nothing has been started," they lament.
.png)
15/02/2021 12:20
