Sigiriya sanctuary dozered to enable hotel visitor view

Sigiriya can't be seen, says hotel owner  - so, sanctuary dozered

    Sigiriya rock was covered because of a nearby forest ... bordering a hotel in Sigiriya belonging to a higher-up of a private bank and who is resident in Colombo. If the tourist attraction of the hotel is to be developed, it is important   that the Sigiriya rock is seen. Then ... in that case the forest has to be cleared. But the forest actually belonged to a sanctuary. For this purpose he had used a certain strategy. He had come to know from the thero of the temple in that area that area that the closeby Ehelegala tank was filled, it had to be restored. And on the pretext that that idea has been carried out, he began a project. Having obtained the support of certain powerful people in the area, together with the farming folk organisations and a strong politician in the area he managed to prepare the relevant documents and make up an estimate of 13 lakhs. Saying that he would foot the whole sum of money and giving the impression that he was attending to work in the tank; instead of doing that, he had brought down dozers and begun to clear the forest.

    What he told those who questioned him in this connection was that it was a part of the project. However, when a few days passed by, the villagers were able to understand his strategy. Even by that time the forest had suffered much damage. In the process he had removed massive trees, creepers, bushes,plants and a large number of plant life.
   By the time the villagers had complained about this to the Wild Life Department, the Sigiriya rock was within sight from the hotel. It was after that the officials of the Wild Life and of the police had arrived on the scene arrested the owner of the tourist hotel, a person who abetted in the process, the driver of the bulldozers and the bulldozer itself was taken into custody. When officers of the Wild Life Department surrounded the place, they were able to observe the tank belonging to the sanctuary and the fertilized area being already dug. It was revealed at the examinations that no legal sanction had been obtained in that respect and was able to find only a fax message of an estimate prepared by an engineer of Agrarian services in Matale. At the moment when he was taken into custody, what he said was that that work was being carried out for the purpose of building the tank. They had even by that time cleared massive trees, creepers and bushes including plants and a large number of plant life with the use of bulldozers.

    Pubbaliya Dhammananda thero, chairman of the Sigiriya Protection organization had this to say in relation to the issue:"The Ehelagala wewa was in a filled up condition. Those responsible in the government showed no interest regarding this situation. Villagers came and said that the owner of the hotel would come and give support to build the tank. I too spoke to the Central Cultural Fund, the Agrarian Services Department and the chairman of the Dambulla PC to provide a lending hand. But what has happened now is something different.

     The sanctuary where the tank lies has been totally dozered. A massive destruction has been done. The spill level has been raised 4 - 5 feet. Because of this, during the rainy season, the village road gets entirely submerged by water. This sanctuary is something belonging to the Sigiriya preserve. Whatever it is, the hotel-man has got his job done and finished.

 Narration -- Dambulla Dhammika Namal Korale