Farmers denounce illegal excavations

They have caused damage to the North West Province reservoir complex, made up of two dams. It is an irrigation system dating back to the 5th century and is still relied upon by thousands of people living in the area. Investigations have been launched, but residents fear complicity by local authorities.

Colombo () – A group of farmers has launched a protest against illegal excavations that have caused damage in the Kala Wewa area, a complex of reservoirs made up of two basins, Kala Wewa and Balalu Wewa, located in the district of Anuradhapura, in the North West Province. It is an agricultural area in Sri Lanka created by an irrigation system dating back to the 5th century.

Local residents say the use of heavy machinery has damaged the rock face and puts the basin at risk. The reservoir has a capacity of 123 million cubic metres and is equipped with a stone spillway and three main gates: water from the central gate flows through a channel about 12 metres wide for a distance of 86 kilometres and supplies water to Nuwara Wewa in Anuradhapura, as well as irrigating thousands of hectares of paddy fields.

But the excavations have caused damage to the biso kotuwathe equivalent of a modern valve-well regulating the outflow of water, built into the rock surface near the former outlet base of the Kala Wewa reservoir. Farmers suspect that this operation was carried out with the complicity of officials of the Mahaweli Authority, the state body that oversees 10 large dams in Sri Lanka and which took over the project 56 years ago. In fact, the excavation site is located near an area belonging to the Mahaweli Authority.

Farmers also organised a religious ceremony to demand punishment for people who dug in the watershed area. Punchibanda Wijepala, 63, Gunapala Samaratunga, 58, and Priyantha Sumanasiri, 55, told that “our families have lived in this area for generations and around 2,500 farmers depend on this system, whose heart is the biso kotuwa. These historic sites must be protected from bulldozers. A boat service has also been established thanks to the silence of the political authorities. But we, who live here, cannot remain silent. We will not allow these thieves to take advantage of this precious resource. We call on the authorities to arrest those responsible for the excavations.”

According to the Director General of the Department of Archaeology, Professor Untilhitha Mendis, an investigation has been carried out into the recent unauthorised excavations and a report will be submitted to the police today. Officers from the Ipalogama Police Station have also carried out investigations into the incident and will report to the Kekirawa Court on the matter tomorrow, 3 July.

Mahaweli Authority Director General Mahendra Abeywardena said: “A special commission has been appointed on the advice of the Minister of Irrigation, Wildlife and Forest Conservation to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the illegal excavations that have been carried out at the site.”

Officials from the Department of Archaeology explained that “in 2019, the Cabinet approved new legislation to increase fines and prison sentences for vandalising archaeological sites and remains,” laws originally introduced by the United Kingdom in 1940, during the colonial period.