Episode 30 – Ussangoda National Park

Ussangoda forest to become a National Park

In 2006, I was transferred to the Kalamatiya Beat Office. The Ussangoda area was close to the Kalamatia Beat Office. The Ussangoda area was conserved by the Department of Archaeology. The Department Forest Conservation has conserved around the reserve as a buffer zone.

Ussangoda is located on the main road between Ambalantota town and Hungama town, at a distance of about 2.5 km on the rural road from Nonagama towards the sea. There are two hillocks, a valley and two grasslands in the Ussangoda area. This is a forest cover and within this shrub  forest cover, there are thorny plants that grow in the semi-arid zone, such as daluk, hinguruvel, kora kaha, cactus, karamba, andara, kukuruman, katupila, etc.

The edge of the forest cover is the sea and scenary of the blue sea waves come and hit the beach is charming. During the day, you can occasionally see turtles swimming freely in the shallow water. You can see many species of birds such as Golu kirala, Goma ritta, yellow-billed kirala, red-billed kirala, dumbonna, and beetle birds. It is possible to see the birds digging holes in the ground and building their nests. There is also a species of large dark colored lizards in this area. Also, you can see animals such as porcupine, spotted deer, mouse deer, rabbits, iguana and occasionally wild elephants.

There are many legends regarding the land of Ussangoda. In the story of Rama-Ravana, Hanuma was hiding in Ussangoda, and there is a legend that medicinal plants were brought from India to heal his wounds, and medicinal plants such as Vishnukranti and Chandrakanti are those plants. Another legend is that this is the area of Lord Mangala and the lake is which the Lord Mangala’s vehicle ‘Bufalo’ was bathed. Another idea is that this land is subjected to subterranean shift and Madunagala hot water springs in  there are due to this subterranean shift.Another legend is that it is an area where mythical Kalu Kumara yaksha’s influence is presence.

School children and young couples often came to visit the Ussangoda area. Stealing their valuables and hunting wild animals at night became widespread. It was also heard that drug addicts used to do these things. The agriculture committee meeting of Ussangoda area was held at Ambalantota Divisional Secretariat and I usually take part to it. One day in this meeting, the environmental officer in charge of the area reported that the Ussangoda area was subjected to illegal human activities. After discussing the importance of protecting the animals and plants and the environment there, everyone including the minister decided to assign Rumassala under the Department of wildlife. After that, the Kalamatia Beat Office of the Wildlife Department received a notice to specify the territory with a rough boundary in the area.

Accordingly, Departments of Wildlife, Archeology, Forest Conservation and the Survey Generals were requested to define the boundaries. The Survey Department requested to pay them 2 lakhs for boundary demarcations. Meanwhile, a private company requested 60 acres of this land to build a hotel. The people of the village protested against it.

At that time, I was a wildlife Beat Officer. Only correspondence is exchanged between the parties. I wondered what I should do. I took a bottle of water on my bike to have when I was thirsty and went to Rumassala. After talking to the senior citizens, I learned about the boundaries belonging to the Department of Archeology and the Department of Forest Conservation. I crawled through the thorn bushes, went along the difficult roads and looked for the borders. Finally, I was able to know the area belonging to the both Departments. Because these areas belong to two Grama Seva domains, I noted that boundary in my mind.

In the office, I drew these borders on a piece of paper. It was actually a sketch, but I took my time with it. I later gave the Range Officer the sketch. But all he did was give it a quick glance before discarding it. The map had become divided in two, and I was in great panic. I took the two map pieces apart and carefully glued them back together.

Time was passed and the problem was aggravated. The people of the village are leading a series of protests. Colombo Kataragama main road was blocked at Lunama area. The authorities ended the protest by saying that this area has now been handed over to the Department of wildlife.

Then one day a senior lady official of the wildlife department came hurriedly with a group of officers. She has been asked to present the border of Ussangoda land to the Parliament soon. Letters sent to the Survey Department had not been answered. I brought the map I had drawn and showed it to her. She was very happy. I was picked up in the vehicle and came to Ussangoda land, and according to my map she  recorded the G.P.S. readings starting from a corner of the land to the other.

Our lunch that day was only tender coconuts. The officer prepared the map and left for Colombo.

Ussangoda was declared as a National Park with 349.077 hectares in extent was declared on Thursday, May 6, 2010 by Gazette No. 1652/49. I am very happy for my contribution in this event.