News
The rape of a nature reserve
View(s):A politically backed group is destroying large swathes of the protected Ritigala Nature Reserve.
Story and Pics by Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa
Residents in the area allege, that hundreds of acres within the reserve have already been cut, and burned.
They add these illegal activities are supported by an influential politician, with the connivance and knowledge of government officials and officers of the forest department.
Our photos reveal large extents of the forest which were cut and burned by labourers hired by those engaged in the racket.
According to residents in the area the destruction has been going on for the past 100 days Though the Forestry Department’s office at Moragoda is situated only a few km away from where the destruction is taking place, efforts to contact department officials have proved futile.
It appears that the officers have shut down the office and left the area.
This aerial picture captured by a drone shows section of the area which has been cleared and burned
Another scene of destruction...
Area residents are left aghast at the brazen manner in which clearing of a protected nature reserve is taking place
The burning remains of the once ‘protected Ritigala Nature Reserve’
A few felled trees and burn’t out stumps tell their own tale