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Planned Anuradhapura stadium on elephant turf may worsen lives of villagers
View(s):By Tharushi Weerasinghe
Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe and Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage recently visited land earmarked for a new sports stadium at Lolugasweva in Anuradhapura, with officials moving to formally demarcate the site even as wildlife authorities and environmentalists raised concerns over potential impacts on elephant habitat.
Officials said about 25 acres have been identified and are to be demarcated.
“The Survey Department has been requested to separate the 25 acres, although measurements have not yet been taken,” said Sudarshana Dissanayake, divisional secretary of Nuwaragampalatha Central. He noted that the area lies at the end of an elephant corridor but suggested that careful planning could help reduce human-elephant conflict rather than worsen it.
Wasantha Samarasinghe and Sunil Kumara Gamage in talks with officials
“The elephant corridor ends with a teak plantation maintained by the Forest Department, and the animals usually remain there,” Mr Dissanayake said. “If natural barriers such as palmyrah and lime trees are established around the stadium, it can protect the facility and also prevent elephants from crossing towards Mahavilachchiya.”
He said elephants move from Mahavilachchiya towards Mannar through rural areas, where urbanisation remains limited.
“Urbanisation has already taken place towards Mihintale and Eppawala, but the Wilachchiya side remains rural. A stadium can help re-establish communities in these areas,” he said. “We need to be more innovative in balancing conservation while ensuring development.”
However, wildlife officials said they had not been consulted.
“I haven’t even been informed. At the very least, our recommendations should have been sought, but no consultations have been done, nor with the Department of Archaeology,” said W M A Chandrarathna, assistant director of Wildlife Conservation for the Anuradhapura, Vavuniya and Mannar regions.
He warned that Lolugasweva lies close to Anuradhapura town, where human-elephant conflict remains widespread.
“The priority must be that elephant habitats are not harmed in the name of development. We don’t even know the exact location of the proposed stadium. If it is built on forest land similar to what happened in other areas, the conflict will worsen,” he said, adding that current patterns of conflict are already the result of past reforestation efforts and human encroachment.
Environmentalists also questioned the need for and location of the proposed stadium, warning that building on elephant migration routes would intensify conflict and undermine both conservation and public use of the facility.
“Elephants already come right to the edge of the main town, and forests on either side have been cleared over the years,” said Hemantha Withanage, chairman of the Centre for Environmental Justice. “Taking land from elephant habitats will only exacerbate the conflict. When elephants lose their routes, they move into human settlements.”
Mr Withanage said development priorities should focus on underused land closer to urban areas rather than sensitive ecological zones. “There are already infrastructure projects in Anuradhapura, including walking paths built years ago that remain unused,” he said. “If you build a stadium on elephant habitat, people won’t be able to use it fully—they will end up spending their time dealing with elephants instead.”
He also warned that continued infrastructure expansion in wildlife-sensitive areas would deepen long-term conflict. “The more you disturb elephants, the more they adapt and move through new routes. This will ultimately bring them closer to towns and people,” he said.
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