- SC order to halt deforestation and removal of electric fences disregarded
Within a span of nine years, the environmental damage taking place in Nakolagane in the Galgamuwa-Ehetuwewa Divisional Secretariat area of the Kurunegala District has expanded from a mere 15-20 acres to 1,500, acres, causing considerable socio ecological impact on the area’s wildlife and residents.
Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka has claimed that 750 acres of the 2,700 acres of ‘nindagama’ lands (Buddhist temporalities) belonging to the Nakolagane Rajamaha Viharaya have been leased out to a few businessmen with political sway under the influence of the Nakolagane Rajamaha Viharaya Chief Incumbent Ven. Walaththewe Rahula Thera in recent years.
The matter was reported periodically by this newspaper in September 2021 titled ‘Environmentalists allege Nakolagane deforestation’ and then in March 2022 titled ‘Atharagalla land-grabbing continues despite the evidence, claims MONLAR,’ with the first records of the destruction reported in June 2015 in a leading English weekly newspaper titled ‘Monk at the centre of sandalwood scandal’.
“Over the years there have been various institutions that came forth to find solutions for this socio ecological issue created by the incumbent monk of the Nakolagane Rajamaha Viharaya. We have protested, been called to the Police to record statements, and attended numerous court hearings, yet the deforestation continues and today we have to share our residential lands and the farming areas with the wildlife that are losing their habitat,” a resident of Eriyawa explained.
Chena cultivators have been living in the Nakolagane area alone for at least seven decades, making it home to over three generations of settlements.
Explaining how they had become residents of Nakolagane, an elderly person from the area said: “When the Government reconstructed the reservoirs to establish farmer communities in the North Central Province, we were allocated this land to live in and undertake chena cultivation. Our old villages went underwater after the reservoirs were filled.”
The Nakolagane village and the Nakolagane Rajamaha Viharaya are situated in the Ehetuwewa Divisional Secretariat Division within the Kurunegala District. The temple is a significant religious shrine and was gazetted in the list of ‘Archaeological Protected Monuments of Kurunegala District’ in June 2008.
According to area residents, today, Nakolagane Rajamaha Viharaya Chief Incumbent Ven. Walaththewe Rahula Thera claims to have a ‘sannasa’ (a royal grant) in his possession that annexes a total land area of about 4,500 acres to the ancient Nakolagane Rajamaha Viharaya, and, therefore, he is entitled to possess that land and do as he wills with the parcel of land.
In recent years, the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) filed a case to prevent the destruction taking place in violation of the law due to illegal activities being carried out within a wild elephant habitat, which has aggravated the human-elephant conflict and is causing environmental problems.
2023 SC order
CEJ Attorney-at-Law Ravindranath Dabare said that the Supreme Court (SC) had given an order on 20 November 2023 to prevent the destruction of the forest and had issued orders to remove the illegally-constructed elephant fence in Nakolagane.
The Supreme Court issued this order in response to petition SC/FRA/351/22 filed by petitioners Hemantha Withanage and Dilena Pathranagoda representing the CEJ, where they named 11 respondents including Nakolagane Purana Rajamaha Viharaya Chief Incumbent Ven. Rahula Thera. The order was to take preventive measures to stop deforestation and remove illegal electric fences in Nakolagane that were obstructing the walking path of wild elephants as well as that of the area residents.
During the hearing, the petitioners informed the court that the 10th respondent, Ven. Walaththewe Rahula Thera, had claimed that he had acquired a large parcel of land through a ‘sannasa,’ specifically an area of about 4,000 acres within the Nakolagane area, and that he was clearing out the forest to lease out such lands which were ecologically valuable.
Furthermore, the monk had built illegal electric fences obstructing the natural walking paths of elephants in the area in violation of the Antiquity Ordinance and the forest had been cleared in violation of the provisions of the National Environmental Act and the North Western Provincial Environmental Authority.
The continuous electric shocks discharged by the electric fences violates the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, causing harm to the lives of elephants as well as injuries.
Following a hearing of all the facts, the court informed the respondents to request the Surveyor General to mark the land dimensions that were claimed to have belonged to the Nakolagane Purana Rajamaha Viharaya and present them to the court. It was informed that the sizes and positions of the area should be indicated on the borders. The lawyer who appeared for Ven. Rahula Thera agreed to an immediate cessation of the clearing of the forest in the area said to belong to the temple.
The Supreme Court further ordered that the illegal electric fence in the area which threatened human and animal lives be completely removed and issued directives to involve the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) in obtaining the necessary assistance.
No action following SC order
While the next hearing of the SC is scheduled to take place on 14 February, where the court will deliberate on whether the orders issued in November 2023 have been carried out, it is unclear whether the respondents have given serious consideration to the matter. It was apparent to The Sunday Morning during a recent field visit to the Nakolagane area that no action had been taken to stop the deforestation or remove the illegal electric fences.
In fact, agricultural activities were being carried out by the businesses that had leased the lands, which had continued to clear the area and had commenced planting commercial agricultural crops such as TJC mango plants, kilo guava, and maize, and even having started landscaping for what appeared to be eco-farming resorts intended to be built in the area.
Furthermore, the electric fences obstructing the elephant and wildlife walking path were still in place, with wiring drawn all the way to the ground from a height of at least 12 feet. This not only prevents the elephants from entering the forest land that has been repurposed for agricultural work, but also prevents other wildlife such as porcupines, wild boar, and monitor lizards from crossing the land to get to their watering holes near the Palukadawala Lake that sits at the back of the claimed temple land.
Meanwhile, the SC had also notified the Government parties that were named as respondents to submit documents within a month if they wished to make any presentations on behalf of the Government.
The respondents from the Government parties include the Director General of Wildlife Conservation, Director General of the Central Environmental Authority, Conservator General of Forests, Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs, Ehetuwewa Divisional Secretary, Inspector General of Police, Director General of the Department of Archaeology, North Western Provincial Environmental Authority, and Ceylon Electricity Board Chairman.
August 2018 Special Leave to Appeal
The illegal forest clearing and setting up of an electric fence within the vicinity of Nakolagane Purana Raja Maha Viharaya in Ehetuwewa goes as far as 2015, when at the time, the Environment Foundation (Guarantee) Ltd. (EFL) was involved in pursuing legal matters.
In 2015, the complaints received were associated with a large-scale clearing of approximately 15-20 acres of forestland and the subsequent institution of an electric fence near the Nakolagane Raja Maha Viharaya.
Accordingly, the large-scale clearing and the subsequent mango plantation surrounding the temple premises were said to have been carried out by the Nakolagane Purana Raja Maha Viharaya in collaboration with funding from private investors.
Given the severity of the destruction and disruption caused to human lives and the environment, EFL together with two affected villagers in Ehetuwewa, who were members of a local group named ‘Parisara Surakum Ekamuthuwa’ filed a Writ Application in 2017. However, the Court of Appeal refused to issue notice for this case on technical grounds. Subsequently, EFL filed a Special Leave to Appeal application to the Supreme Court in August 2018.
The Department of Buddhist Affairs in 2021 and 2022 claimed it was investigating the complaints it had received from various environmental groups about clearing forest land under the Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance named ‘nindagam’ lands.
Buddhist Affairs Department Commissioner General Sunanda Kariyapperuma voiced his concerns over the usage of heavy machinery to clear swathes of forest land near Palukadawala, Hunugallewa, and Atharagalla and two other locations belonging to the Nakolagane Grama Niladhari Division.
“‘Nindagam’ lands cannot be cleared using heavy machinery, especially if it is also protected by the gazette of 2008 that lists the area under the Archaeological Protected Monuments list of the Kurunegala District. With several petitions filed before the Court of Appeal and now the Supreme Court, necessary investigations are being carried out to reach an agreement on preventing further destruction to the area,” Kariyapperuma noted.
Many environmental activists and organisations, having visited the area and conducted studies, had observed that the forest lands in the catchment area of the Palukadawala Reservoir belonging to the Nakolagane Rajamaha Viharaya comprised a key elephant home range.
The area and forest lands around the Thorawamayilawa Rajamaha Viharaya act as a corridor for elephants to move from Thabbowa and Galgamuwa to Inginimitiya. Over 60% of free range elephants in the North Western Province wildlife administrative regions live outside the protected areas and use the forest patches as their resting grounds. Therefore, the Nakolagane area houses a valuable ecosystem, and around 500 elephants access the area to fulfil their water and food needs.
Awaiting instructions via post
Responding to questions on the delay in removing the electric fences as instructed by the SC, Department of Wildlife Conservation Director – Protected Areas Manjula Amaranath noted: “The SC order needs to be sent in writing to our Assistant Director who is stationed at the Kurunegala DWC office. As of January 2024, the office had not received any such directive from the SC to take necessary action. As soon as the instructions are received, our officials will be able to take action.”
Attempts to contact the Surveyor General at the Sri Lanka Survey Department for comment proved futile.