GOVT'S DECISION TO REOPEN ROUTE VIA WILPATTU NP

The much disputed Mannar-Puttalam road via Wilpattu National Park yet again made headlines when President Anura Kumara Dissanayake recently said that the government is considering ways and means of reopening this road.

- By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe

The road, which was initially built by the Army during the war, was utilised for logistical purposes. Right now, this road, which is in a dilapidated state, has been closed due to a court order following complaints filed by the Environmental Foundation Limited, Wildlife and Nature Protection Society and several other environmental conservation groups. However, environmentalists argue that the reopening of this road would cause an irreversible harm to the flora and fauna of the Wilpattu National Park (WNP), which is also home to a high density of leopards and claims beings made that it is quite an unwise move.

History of the Mannar-Puttalam road

From 1998-2009 the WNP was closed to the public due to the civil war. This route was constructed by security force to facilitate the capture of the rice bowl area of Mannar district, between 2007 and 2008. Thereafter the road hadn't been in use. The A32 route from Mannar-Pooneryn was also closed due to security reasons. However, after the war concluded the then Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa and Rishard Bathiudeen decided to open the WNP to the public. Between 2010 and 2013 Bathiudeen was also instrumental in illegally clearing the buffer zone belonging to the Park to construct settlements for political gains.