People and their lands starved of water
By Easwaran Rutnam in Serunuwera
In the midst of violence and terror, the innocent had only one cry; water. “All we ask for is water. Please give us water. We don’t want anything else. Our children are suffering and so are we. Please help us.” These are the cries of Serunuwera and its surrounding villages who were denied water for more that two weeks following the forceful closure of the Mawilaru sluice gates by the LTTE.
The LTTE in Trincomalee has refused to open the Mawilaru sluice gates citing a water crisis of its own by claiming that villages in rebel controlled areas of Echalampattu have been deprived of a water tank since 2002.
The closure has now led to what the government calls a “humanitarian operation” by the military to force open the anicut in an unprecedented offensive code named ‘operation watershed.’
But while both the government and the LTTE continue to fight over the rights of “their people” to decide who should be the first to get ‘water’, the people themselves are continuing to suffer with no respite in site.
In government controlled Serunuwera and some 15 other villages including Muslim and Tamil dominated areas in Muttur and Thopur more than 60,000 people and 30,000 acres of paddy is without water owing to the closure of the Mawilaru anicut.
Interestingly the immediate areas surrounding the anicut was initially under government control during the war but was termed as ‘uncleared areas’ just prior to the signing of the cease fire agreement.
To put it in the words of the chief prelate of the Serunuwera Raja Maha Vihara that move led to the “head of the anicut to remain in LTTE controlled areas and the body to flow into government controlled areas. The LTTE has now shot on the head. So, obviously the body is dying,” the Ven Saranakeerthi thera told the Daily Mirror. He said the government was solely responsible for the current water crisis.
The timing of the closure of the anicut by the LTTE two weeks ago hurt the farming community of Serunuwera as it came just as they were preparing to harvest their crop which is the main source of their income.
“We are farmers and the closure of the anicut is really hurting us. Our crops have all run dry and with no paddy to sell we might as well leave our villages and go somewhere else or die,” K.G. Navachandra said.
The paddy in most parts had visibly turned yellow, a sign that it was drying up with no water while in some areas the paddy had already turned brown with the scorching heat and lack of rain adding to the woes of the farmers.
An angry Mr. Navachandra said that if the Mawlirau anicut crisis was not resolved soon the Serunuwera people might even consider coming to Colombo to occupy state owned land until relief is provided.
“People in Colombo are living happily while we are suffering. We might have to come to Colombo and build our homes there if nothing is done very soon,” he said adding that the action by the LTTE had led to the suffering of Tamil farmers in government areas as well, the very people the rebels claim to represent.
The Serunuwera people not only depend on the water that runs through the anicut for their paddy but they also use it for drinking and bathing purposes as there is no other source of water supply for the area.
Villagers were seen last week bathing in the puddles of water remaining in the drying up canals while the same water was also being used for drinking purposes raising the threat of a serious health crisis.
Several village schools have been temporarily closed as there was no drinking water for the children and some already have developed rashes on their skins as a result of bathing and drinking contaminated water.
The Kallaru army camp which is also dependent on the water from Mawillaru is now as a temporary measure drawing water directly from the Mahawelli River to ensure the throats of the soldiers and home guards do not run dry.
The government has also taken measures to supply water to the villagers from bowsers but the supply is still inadequate to meet the needs of more than 60, 000 people whose patience had almost ran out last week.
In an attempt to take matters into their own hands the villagers led by Buddhist monks staged a protest in Serunuwera and later attempted to march their way into rebel controlled Mawilaru to force open the anicut.
However following the advice of the military the villagers decided to rethink their decision which if continued would have been disastrous with the surroundings of the anicut said to be heavily mined.
Alainair Mohomad from Thopur said some people were now hiring out water pumps to draw water from drying out wells and canals to feed at least parts of their paddy hoping that it will help fill their stomachs for at least a few more days.
The venerable Serunuwera Saranakeerthi thera, the chief priest of the Serunuwera Rajamaha Vihara Temple, said the move by the LTTE to close the anicut is the worst ceasefire violation since the agreement was signed in 2002.
The thera himself staged a hunger strike in protest of the closure of the anicut but later decided to call it off as it was only adding to the troubles faced by the Serunuwera people.
He was of the view that the whole crisis could have been resolved much earlier if the government had acted as soon as the anicut was closed and avoided the military action as the LTTE had initially shown signs of re-opening the sluice gates.
For the moment though the people of Serunuwera are in despair hoping and praying the water crisis will come to an end very soon as every minute that passes by, is further aggravating their suffering. [Courtesy: Daily Mirror]
