Farmers in the Anuradhapura District urge the Anuradhapura District Agriculture Committee, Government Agent, Wildlife Conservation Assistant Director and Divisional Secretaries to address human-elephant conflict, which is increasing rapidly in many areas in the district.
The Wildlife Conservation Department sources said they lacks manpower and transport facilities to drive away wild elephants when villagers are affected, which happens every day. A 484.2 km long electric fence in the Anuradhapura District, which was proposed three years ago, was not implemented despite enough construction materials are in stores in the district, they said.
A spokesman of the Wildlife Conservation Department told the Daily News that Rs. 80 million has been allocated initially to complete the construction under the first phase.
Meanwhile, wild elephants attacked four houses in Bellankadawala in the Kebithigollewa DS Division and around 100 gunny bags of paddy in the houses were destroyed. The villagers spend nights on rooftops and in temporary bunkers in the thick jungle during wild elephants’ invasions.
They requested wildlife authorities to set up a sub-office in Bellankadawala since in an emergency; they have to wait until wildlife officers visit the area travelling about 80 km from Medawachchiya.
On May 17, a 63-year-old woman in Ihalawewa in the Thalawa DS Division died of a wild elephant attack in the morning. The villagers said that a number of wild elephants are haunting in Thalawa-Moragoda reservation who invades villages regularly through broken electric fences.
Add new comment