Landslides inevitable due to deforestation:
Aranayake has changed much in the last 10-15 years and for many residents in the area, these changes are quite visible. It was these changes to its landscape that resulted in many of them being killed and buried alive by last year’s landslide. The landslide was made more potent, as many of the trees which could have minimized harm, had been cleared for tea cultivation and other development purposes over the years.
A year since the landslide and disaster that wreaked havoc in the lives of the people in the area, residents allege that deforestation in the vulnerable areas continue. They continue unabated as officials responsible for the environment turn a blind eye towards illegal logging and felling in the surrounding forests.
Trees cut down en masse
Aranayake is surrounded by mountains and it is the home to both wealthy estate owners and the most vulnerable group; plantation workers and day labourers.
“The environment has changed much as more people moved into the mountains. Many trees were cut down to make way for human settlements in these places. People do not want to protect the environment any more and they are much concerned about their own business,” said K. Jayawardena, a resident living in Aranayake.
Jayawardene claimed that trees were being cut down from both forest lands as well as private lands.
Divisional Secretary of Aranayake Z.A.M. Faizal, however, denied the allegations that trees are being chopped down.
“We have taken initiatives to reduce the number of permits issued. Earlier, we used to give 50 permits every month and now we have reduced it to 30,” he said.
He said that the Divisional Secretariat was taking all possible initiatives to preserve nature and the environment.
Divisional Forest Officer, Kegalle K. G. Sepala assured that trees in environmentally protected areas were not being cut down by the people.
“I can assure you that the trees are not cut down in Forest lands but we cannot do anything if people cut trees in their private lands,” he said.
He further said that the people needed to get permission from the Divisional Secretariat to sell any felled trees and such permission was not granted easily.
Sepala noted that there were also lands that belonged to the Land Reclamation and Development Corporation (LRDC) in the Aranayake area and added that they were managed by the LRDC and not the Forest Department.
Despite several attempts made to contact Chairman of LDRC Asela Iddawela, he was not available for a comment.
Despite the confusion in various jurisdictions, the environmental disaster triggered by human settlements now threatens their very existence. Large sections of lands in Aranayake have now been declared as high risk areas and residents have been asked not to return home.
M.P. Kamalavathi has had many areas close to her house declared as landslide prone areas.
“The residents of that area were sent to camps. But the people still visit their houses and lands. Some have got into the habit of cutting down the trees in their garden. They do not have any problems as they are not going to live in those houses any more. The government has promised to give them houses somewhere else,” she said.
Kamalavathi feared that such irresponsible behaviour would trigger other problems.
“How can we just let these people cut down trees? If I go tell them not to do it, it would turn into a fight. Therefore I keep quiet,” she said.
She said the logging was mainly taking place in the areas of Naththakanda and Beravila in Aranayake.
D. Ranjani, a university student in the meantime, complained that she woke up to the sound of a chain saw cutting down trees and logs every morning.
“We were also asked to leave at first as they said this was a landslide prone area but later they said it was a possible vulnerable area. The NBRO gave us permission to return to our homes,” she said.
Ranjani claimed that the relevant officials had failed to take action against the loggers.
Forests converted to tea cultivations
An expert team from the NBRO which conducted a geological investigation in the areas where the landslide occurred, has recommended that the entire region subjected to the landslide should be declared as a restricted zone and no human activity should be tolerated there for any reason.
They said that the entire slope region on either side of the landslide area was not suitable for settlement and should only be used for agricultural purposes.
Residents like R. Ramanayake, 70 had stopped attending to his cultivation there after the landslide washed his lands away. He said his children also did not want him to restart the cultivation,
“The trees in Samarasa Kanda were cut down a few years ago and tea was planted instead. That’s a great destruction. People don’t realize it though,” he said.
Residents complained that deforestation was the main reason for the landslide but despite all the destruction it caused to the village, some people still continued to cut trees.
Ramanayake said Beravila, Paithalawa, Naththakanda, Ambalakanda and Gantuna were few areas where forest areas have been converted to tea cultivation purposes.
Head of the Department of Geology, University of Peradeniya Dr. Jagath Gunathilake said the areas where the landslide had occurred were the areas which had been cultivated for minor crop exports such as tea and there was no danger in Forest areas where there were bigger trees.
He said deep rooted plantations were important for the stability of soil slopes and there were many unstable slopes in these mountains.
“Root systems of tea plants are not capable of providing such protection. It was observed that the area where this landslide has been triggered is mostly covered by tea plantation, which may have been a contributing factor to the landslide,” he said.
Dr. Gunathilake explained that due to improper land use methods employed in tea cultivation on the upper regions of the slope or the hills, rainwater had quickly infiltrated into the soil slope.
An official attached to the District Secretariat, Kegalle who wished to remain anonymous said any construction activities, cultivations, change in land use pattern leading to slope instability could not be done without prior approval from the NBRO.
“Local government authorities have been instructed by the NBRO not to grant approval for such activities without their approval by the circular number 2011/1/NBRO issued by the Ministry of Disaster Management,” he said. Meanwhile, he emphasized that it was essential to implement programmes to necessitate the planning of existing land use patterns and construction techniques, considering the natural slope and geology in the mountainous regions of the country.
Add new comment