LAND ALIENATION IRKS DODANGODA FARMERS
Has the Agrarian Service Dept. taken a false step?
The farmer community is perturbed that the Agrarian Service Department has decided to alienate an extensive stretch of wetland in the Dodangoda area in the Kalutara district. The wetland serves as catchments of two canals that irrigate more than 300 acres of paddy.
Farmers pointed out that the authorities failed to maintain the canal that flows through the marshes compelling them to abandon their paddy fields for about 15 years. They blamed the authorities of planning to alienate the marshy land for agricultural purposes adding to say that this would result
Because the authorities failed to maintain the canal that flows through the marshes farmers were compelled to abandon their paddy fields for about 15 years
in the complete destruction of the canals.
A traditional farmer U K D Chandrasiri who had once been selected for the ‘Best Farmer’ award in the area said, “We cultivated our paddy fields in both Yala and Maha seasons every year and obtained good yields. However, we abandoned paddy cultiva- tion for want of irrigation facilities. Our requests to the authorities to maintain the canal were not heard. In response to requests made by farmer organisations, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe provided machinery and equipment to restore the canal through Shramadana. However, the canal was covered with jungle growth in a couple of years. The proposed alienation would result in the filling of marshy land through which the canal flows.”
The residents of the area requested the authorities to protect the marshy land in the area and restore the canal.