Residents of the Anapallama 3, 4, 5 areas of the Wellawaya Divisional Secretariat Division are undergoing great difficulties due to the human-elephant conflict.
Wellawaya Pradeshiya Sabha (PS) Member Chandima Silva said that six houses have been totally damaged by the wild elephants during the last 10 days.
He said that although funds have been allocated to provide solutions to the issue, no proper step was taken by the authorities so far. Therefore, he requests to take adequate action immediately to prevent elephant from harming the residents and their assets. An officer attached to the Handapanagala Wildlife Office said that due to the water levels in the Handapanagala Reservoir rising these days, the forest reserves in the surrounding area have been inundated and therefore, the elephants have invaded the villages.
Permission has been sought from the Director General of Forest Conservation to implement several projects in the reserve area to prevent the wild elephants from invading the villages and those will be implemented as soon as the permission is received, the officer said.
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