News
Etanwela, Matale on a windy road to recovery
View(s):The District Secretary for Matale, Prasanna Madanayake has dispelled fears of Etanwela villagers that their village will be closed down due to the impact of the cyclone ‘Ditwah’ that triggered landslides in the area.
He assured the villagers that no decision to close down the village has been taken and that the damage caused to the Riverstone Road will be repaired immediately and traffic will be restored.
Etanwala village is one of the main attractions in Riverstone, Matale- a breathtaking highland destination in the Knuckles Mountain Range.
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- Prasanna Madanayake
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- Etanwala village: One of the main attractions in Riverstone, Matale- a breathtaking highland destination in the Knuckles Mountain range
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- Cyclone ‘Ditwah’ triggered landslides and caused damage in the area
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- Mr Madanayake and other officials participating in the inspection of the Nakkala area
The village still maintains a traditional lifestyle which is a tourist attraction, but is currently not accessible due to the damage caused to the roads in the area.
The District Secretary expressed these views while participating in the inspection of development activities in the Nakkala area on Friday.
Government officials from various government agencies including the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) and the Road Development Authority (RDA) as well as the Matale District Office of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society participated in the visit.
The District Secretary and his team held discussions with the people of Etanwala village who were affected by the disaster in the Riverstone-Pitawala area and explained to them about the reconstruction work as well as the relief measures to the area which is a tourist attraction.
“The Riverstone Road will be opened to domestic and foreign tourists soon”, he said.
“The RDA has announced that it will restore this road to normalcy as soon as possible. This work is being done with the assistance of military officers,” he said.
He said there was a request from villagers including those from Etanwala to open this road immediately so that they could travel to Matale town for their needs.
Accordingly, the two sides have been closed, allowing only light vehicles to pass through the landslide area, and when the school reopens, two Sri Lanka Transport Board buses are scheduled to be added to the service, similar to what existed prior to the disaster.
He said the RDA has no intention of opening this road to heavy vehicles other than those two buses immediately .
“The recommendations of the NBRO will be followed because otherwise, if a large number of people start coming to the Riverstone area, the ongoing development work will be hindered. Therefore, as before, tourists are requested not to come to the Riverstone area until further notice”, he said.
He said the NBRO stated that there is no problem in accessing areas related to cultivation and sanitation in the landslide-hit Etanwala village though there are some areas at risk and the people living in those areas are being resettled in safer places.
“We held discussions with people in these areas, and some of them wanted to move to the Laggala area. Another group wanted to resettle in the safe areas identified in Etanwala village”, he said.
“We have suggested that tourists visit these villages to experience the agriculture and lifestyle patterns that exist there, so completely removing them from their homes can cause livelihood problems. Therefore, we always try to give them the opportunity to live their usual lifestyle in safe places”, he said.
“We also discussed the possibility of constructing some embankments in the paddy fields of Etanwala village after obtaining proper permission and constructing traditional houses in a way that would attract tourists. There has been a good response from the people of the area to provide them with support,” he said.
Central Province Senior Geologist H.C.U. Moremada, Matale District Deputy Director (Land) F.R.M. Riyaldeen, Assistant Director of the Disaster Management Centre Chaminda Amaraweera, Sri Lanka Red Cross Society Matale District Office President Hasitha Wijetilaka, Government Information Officer Nishantha Karunaratne and officials from the Road Development Authority, the Forest Conservation Department and other state agencies were also present on this occasion.
Pix and text by Indika Aruna Kumara and Mahesh Keerthiratna
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