Ten jumbos released into the wilds

Eth Athuru Sevana is a place of repute in Sri Lanka. Do you know what it is? It's an elephant transit home at Uda Walawa. Baby elephants who have been found without their parents and left stranded are transported here and brought up and rehabilitated with the help of various donors and foster parents.

A batch of 10 elephants, who have been residing at this camp for the past four years, were released into the wilds recently. The herd, comprising four males and six females, will make their future home in the Uda Walawa National Park. Pachyderms at this camp are fixed with an electric collar, and once they are released into the jungles, they are monitored for three years.

The elephant population in Sri Lanka has been dwindling at such a rapid rate that the animal is now facing the risk of extinction. There were over 10,000 wild elephants in the island before 1900, but around 5,000 were shot and killed during the colonial era.

Eth Athuru Sevana, the only elephant transit home in Asia, was set up at Uda Walawa in 1995. It has benefited many orphaned and stranded wild jumbos; to date, over 56 jumbos have been released into the wilds from this centre. Its facilities include a veterinary hospital and an ambulance for the jumbos.

Restoration of Dharmapala Park

You may remember the news item that we carried sometime ago about the rehabilitation and restoration of the Dharmapala Park in Galle.

This project is being carried on with funding from the aid agency, USAID. The project got under way this January and construction work is expected to be completed within eight months.

The Dharmapala Park has never seen any renovations or restorations since its establishment.

Campaign for dengue control

Do you breed mosquitos? Maybe not intentionally, but do you do anything that leads to the spread of these harmful insects? Littering your surroundings with garbage and allowing water to collect in cans, bottles, tyres, tins and certain plants is how you help spread the deadly disease dengue. Doing all you can to prevent such water accumulation is how you could help control it.

This is exactly what the Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry is trying to do in collaboration with the National Dengue Control Unit under the theme 'Dengue is preventable'.

The programme includes cleaning homes, gardens, schools, religious institutions and public places; conducting awareness raising campaigns countrywide; raiding mosquito breeding premises; and seeking public assistance to control dengue in the country, especially in the high risk areas identified by the Dengue Control Unit.

Although 12 districts have been identified to be at high risk for dengue, this campaign focuses on Colombo, Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy, Kurunegala and Ratnapura districts. The Western Province accounts for about 50 per cent of total reported dengue patients.

Tyres and plastic containers are identified as the main reasons for the excessive mosquito breeding in this area. Schoolchildren will play a leading role in this programme which has the support of provincial authorities, the Education Ministry, Environment Ministry and Central Environmental Authority.

Electricity from gliricidia

Our country, as you may know, is undergoing a power crisis. We have been dependent on hydro electricity for far too long, and the disadvantages of this are specially seen during dry periods.

A novel method has now been proposed as a solution. A project running on biogas is expected to add 1.5 mega watts of power to the national grid. And what is most unique about this project, to be established in Meewellawa Trirappane in Anuradhapura, is that gliricidia trees will be used to generate power.

It will be sponsored by USAID jointly with the Rajarata Community Development Forum, North Central Provincial Council and other voluntary organisations. The first phase will see USAID funding to the tune of Rs. 160 million. Thousands of villagers are expected to benefit from this project as they will be encouraged to cultivate this plant.

The cultivation could be carried out without much expenditure and manpower as the plant doesn't need any weediciders, chemicals or fertiliser. Plans are being made to allocate land for the residents to take up cultivation. The project is to be managed by a company comprising the farmers themselves.

Forty tons of dried gliricidia will be required per day for this project. A farmer will be paid four rupees per kilo for dried gliricidia. The produce from one acre of land could bring an annual income of Rs. 100,000.

The climate and condition of soil in the Meewellawa Trirappane area has been identified as ideal for gliricidia cultivation.

Foreign tours by CSDP

A group of school children took part in a cultural show and had a tour of Thailand organised by the Children Skills Development Programme (CSDP). The group left for Thailand on April 4.

Ashanthi Tathsarani and Dishara Nethmini Shanthadeva of Sri Sangamitta Balika Vidyalaya, Matale, Nivarthana Priyanjini of Kalutara Balika National School, Nayumi Oshini Liyanage of Royal English School of Matale and P. D. Anju Sri Kalpana Perera of Wadduwa Central College got this opportunity of visiting Thailand.

The CSDP provided over 300 children the opportunity of travelling abroad to participate in cultural shows, drama festivals and competitions during the previous year. The organisation is also calling for applications from children with acting talents to take part in a Greek drama festival which will be held on July 13 in Cyprus. Applications can be forwarded to Children Skills Development Programme, No. 51, Sri Dharmarama Road, Dematagoda, Colombo 9. For details call: 0112-672718, 0112-689536 or 0115-751593.