Episode 27 – Lahugala Kitulana National Park

A new beginning

In the year 2002, I worked in Kitulana National Park in Lahugala. I served as a Park Warden in charge of this park, the Kumana and Panama parks. All these parks were closer to each other in the Eastern Province.

At the end of 2002, the then government signed a peace accord with the LTTE* organization.

With the peace treaty a new era of peace was dawned. The government took a policy decision to open the closed national parks.

I received an order from the Eastern Province Assistant Director to open the park which had been closed for about twenty years. This area was considered a very risky area. The road was not macadamized and the entire area was gone wild and the people of the village used to go to see the animals during the day. The people of Pottuvil and Akkareipattu used to go into the forest and to cook food in the forest while watching animals just for fun. We learned that animals can suffer alot because of this practice.

We did not have a large staff and vehicle facilities were minimum. On the first day I cycled from Lahugala Kitulana, to Panama. That road was macadamized. We night stopped at the house of the Wildlife Guard, P. Jayawardene. The next day, I went to Kumana by road. Where the office buildings have been destroyed and only two ruined buildings were there. The Okanda tank was also collapsed. Cashew trees were well established in the area. The soil was sandy in nature and area was covered with lantana bushes. I explained the situation to the Eastern Assistant Director and asked for his advice.

We had to depend on sponsorship and we needed to find sponsors by ourselves. They asked us to put a gate at the entrance utilizing government funds. A small watchers hut was built using clay by the Rural Development Society of Panama. This guardhouse marked the boundary between the village and the park. A gate was placed near the watcher’s hut. There was an old well; we cleaned it and used it for our day to day needs. There was a protest in the village on the first day of the work. The protest is against opening political offices by the Karuna Amman’s group in the province.

This incident happened in late September or early October of 2002. I don’t remember the exact date. I was about 23 years old at that time. That evening, the minister’s advisor came.He was an anesthetist named Mr. Ranjan Fernando and he wanted to go to Kuman from Lahugala-Kitulana office. It was around 3:30 pm and Driver, Wildlife Ranger Mr. Jayasena Sylvath, left by the Land Cruiser Jeep of the Department to go to Kumana. The jeep was given for the usage of the Advisor to the Department by the head office.

We traveled to the Kudumbigala Halava region about 4:30 p.m. The rain has now become very heavy. The path was unclear and the road was narrow. A torrent of water was gushing across the road. It has transformed into a pool of mud and the jeep has to drive across it. The stream flows from Kudumbigala to the estuary via Halava Lagoon.

Without submerging the Jeep in the mud, you are unable to continue. Unfortunately, as soon as the Jeep was inserted into it, it became immobile and could not move further. The stream is full to the brim. Additionally, the amount of rain was getting heavier, and the water level was progressively rising. Then water was above the windscreen of the Jeep. Fortunately, the engine was still running.

The vehicle was in the water for about 20 minutes. Can’t open the door, the water was pouring inside. The vehicle was a “four-wheeler” one.

The driver tried with his full effort; cut back and forth, and finally he could pull over the vehicle. We heaved a sigh of relief.

Anyway, we managed to go to Okanda Temple on time. Okanda temple is a temple where people used to visit frequently.

During this time, we worked with great interest and dedication. By March 2003, the reopening arrangements of the park was completed. The incident of vehicle getting stuck in the water is an incident I will never forget.

*the LTTE. – An organization designated as a terrorist organization.