Destroying Sellakandal forest reserve
Unauthorised sand mining in the Sellakandal forest reserve in Puttalam is causing serious environmental problems.
Spread over 400 hectares and located near Mee Oya, the Sellakandal reserve is the largest forest reserve in the Puttalam Divisional Secretariat area.
Environmentalists say sand mining has been ongoing in the area since 2012 subject to monitoring by the Puttalam Range Forest Office. The Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the Divisional Environmental Authority Office, the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau and the Divisional Secretary have issued sand mining permits.
However, while licences had only been given to engage in sand mining at the Mee Oya near the Sellakandal reserve, sand miners have been indulging in mass scale mining inside the forest reserve since 2012, the environmentalists say.
It was evident that racketeers had been clearing the forest cover to make way for the tractors to move into the reserve day and night.
The sand miners had dug pits and tunnels in the reserve at various locations to get more sand, while in the process huge trees such as Kumbuk were felled.
Environmentalists say sand mining has eroded the banks of the river.
Villages living near the reserve say that due to the illegal activities of the sand miners, elephants which normally move around the Sellakandal reserve are increasingly wandering into nearby villagers, aggravating the human-elephant conflict.
Puttalam Range Forest Officer Kamal Jayakody said sand mining in the area had started before he took over and permits had been issued by Divisional Secretaries. Action had been taken to stop this practice. Mr. Jayakoday insisted that sand miners were only allowed to mine in the Mee Oya and had no authority to engage in sand mining inside the forest reserve.