Note to layout; see overline, strap, quotes, pic suggestion; forest fires
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Overline: Forest fires
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Strap: Total of 49 forest fires erupted within just the month of February
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Quote1: Wherever it is humanly possible to reach, the military and Police are ready and they go up the mountains and douse the fires
DMC Director General Major General S. Ranasinghe
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Quote2: Grama sevakas know exactly who caused it; every inch of land in our country belongs to a grama niladari, so if you enhance their services to enrich the village, it would inadvertently pave the way for the entire country to develop
Dumbara Mithuro Chairman Nimal Ananda
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By Chenelle Fernando
A total of 49 fires, damaging 99.45 hectares (ha) – approximately 245.75 acres – of forest land have erupted within the month of February, followed by four more eruptions as at 6 March, Forest Department Conservator of Forests Nishantha Edirisinghe informed The Sunday Morning.
The highest number of cases has been reported in the districts of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya.
Meanwhile, Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka Convener Jayantha Wijesinghe shared that each year, Sri Lanka loses 6,000 acres of land to forest fires whilst noting Monaragala, Galle, Ratnapura, Ampara, and Kurunegala as regular forest fire hotspots. Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, Monaragala, Kandy, Matale, and Ratnapura have been identified as high-risk zones.
Adding to the burgeoning fire situation, The Sunday Morning learnt in February of two fires that were seen to have been blazing persistently in Hantana, which attracted less attention. Emphasising the issue, Wijesinghe said that the Disaster Management Centre’s (DMC) inability to douse the fires (according to a statement) were due to the increased number of forest fires, which amounted to about 100 fires this year alone.
The areas of Randenigala, Rantembe, Victoria, Hatton, Thalawakele, and Nuwara Eliya, Wijesinghe stated also experienced fires recently. Identifying a majority of the aforementioned areas as including river catchment areas, especially Nuwara Eliya, Wijesinghe argued that an issue of the scarcity of water would be imminent. “The drought can continue from May-June till about August and there will be more fires if this drought continues. We must prepare ourselves.”
Dry weather aggravates situation
Commenting on the persisting weather condition, Meteorological Department Deputy Director Merrill Mendis stated that despite the increase in temperature, there are indications of normal weather fluctuations which cause this time of the year to be generally dry. Elaborating on the issue, Mendis expressed that this dry atmosphere is capable of causing the spread of forest fires in certain areas. Emphasising further, he said: “When the weather is dry, the chance for fires to spread, given the conditions, is quite high. This is not abnormal but is the normal regular sequence.”
Wijesinghe was of the opinion that it is the preparedness of the DCM, Wildlife Department, Forest Department, divisional and district-level secretariats, grama sevaka niladharis, and other parties that would assure the appropriate mitigation of the circumstances.
Meanwhile, commenting to The Sunday Morning, DMC Director General Major General S. Ranasinghe claimed that all districts have forest fire mitigation and forest fire reduction personnel stationed. Unless fires erupt on high mountains or mountaintops where officials may face issues in reaching the area of distress, normal reachable spots contain committees appointed as well as on-guard military with 100% readiness.
Lack of firefighting power
Identifying the scarcity of bowsers, fire fighting equipment, and water cannons during late hours, i.e. after 6 p.m., as an issue, he stated: “In the dark hours, we have an issue of air support because we cannot use choppers after 6 p.m. Even though the chopper can go up, it won’t be able to collect in the dark. After 6 p.m., air support is nil.”
Expressing the need for an illuminated reservoir for the collection of water, he stated that the centre does its best with the assistance of the military and Police to douse fires that erupt at daylight. “Wherever it is humanly possible to reach, the military and Police are ready and they go up the mountains and douse the fires,” attested Ranasinghe whist stating that the fire is doused using manual methods of cutting fire trenches, fire gaps, and the clearing of bushes. “Water scarcity and firefighting equipment scarcity is a serious issue and this is something we do not have an answer for,” he concluded.
Anthropogenic fires
The cases of anthropogenic fires are alleged to have been caused by the encroachment of lands, chena cultivation, local tourists, and plantation companies. “Plantation companies burn forests down to grow palm oil. On Thursday (5) I got one record from Mathugama where a plantation company had burned down a part of their land – so it is an increasing trend,” elaborated Wijesinghe.
Considering how nearly 100 fires have erupted in 2020 alone, Wijesinghe believes that prompt details of the whos and whys can be obtained by grama niladariswho ought to have all the relevant details of the people responsible for the fires and their reasons for doing so.

Expressing the same concern, Dumbara Mithuro Chairman Nimal Ananda identified how all villages were stationed with mandatory governmental officials consisting of a grama sevaka, developmental officer, agricultural researcher, and Samurdi development officer, capable of developing and reforming a village’s pre-existing state of affairs. Also noting a grama sevaka’s vital role, Ananda said: “Grama sevakas know exactly who caused it; every inch of land in our country belongs to a grama niladari, so if you enhance their services to enrich the village, it would inadvertently pave the way for the entire country to develop.”