CONSTRUCTION WORK BEGINS ON COUNTRY’S LONGEST PALMYRAH FENCE

The Department of Irrigation has taken steps to erect the longest Palmyrah fence in the country starting from the Yodha-ela reservation in Elahera to provide protection to the people in the Elahera farmer colony who had been facing the threat of wild elephants for decades.

Irrigation Engineer Nalaka Samarasinghe said the 25 kilometre long Palmyrah fence would run parallel to the electric fence which is often pulled down by the wild elephants roaming into human habitats. He said the Palmyrah fence would be a sustainable solution to the issue. Mr. Samarasinghe said the fence would be erected with the help of the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority and the agrarian organizations in the area. He said it was for the first time that a Palmyrah fence was being erected to prevent wild elephants from roaming into villages and that it could perhaps be called a cultural link between the North and the South.

Villagers who welcomed the erecting of the Palmyrah fence said they had spent many a sleepless night lighting elephant crackers to scare away wild elephants that roamed into their villages.