We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it. --George Eliot, the Mill on the Floss.
As many would know, the rural population in this country is fast migrating to the cities in search of better pastures. The people of Battaramulla never migrated to a city. The city encroached on the village of Battaramulla without the consent of its inhabitants.
In my childhood nearly 65 years ago, Battaramulla was a sleepy village with a few houses and boutiques. It all started with the declaration in 1977 that Sri Jayewardene pura would be made the capital city of Sri Lanka and Battaramulla was going to be a part of it.
Our house was just by the side of the Borella- Godagama trunk road but it had not much traffic those days. I woke up early every morning to the sounds of bullock carts carrying various types of goods to Colombo, such as firewood, rubber, coconuts, vegetables etc.
The ringing bells of the cart bulls and the occasional rendering of a rhythmic “Karatththa Kavi” (carter’s poetry) were soothing. Once the streams of carts had gone past, there was the stream of bicycles ridden by the village folk going to Colombo for work. There was hardly any motor traffic except for the occasional bus carrying passengers to Colombo or the occasional car of a well to do person.
Battaramulla is surrounded by marsh land on three sides. The famous Diyawanna oya is the western border of the village. The lives of the village folk were intertwined with this vast marsh. They procured their green leaves such as Kekatiya, lotus tuber, wild berries (Dan and Ma-Dan) and cultivated their vegetable plots near the border of the marsh. The village was self sufficient in vegetables. Cultivating paddy was a difficult task. Special types of paddy had to be grown. They were known as Dik -Vee(long Paddy) Devaraddiri, Ma Vee. These varieties were resilient to water logging but the harvest was poor. Therefore the village folk did not depend on paddy farming alone. They had to look for alternative occupations. The marsh provided fodder for the cattle too.
The protein came from the numerous varieties of fish - there were the Lulas, Koraliyas, Kawaiyaas, Maguras, Hungas etc. which were sold in the village market by the fishermen. It is a tragedy that we do not see any of these varieties of fish in the marshes or the Diyawannawa. Instead some predatory fishes have taken over. The fresh water lobsters, the tortoise are no longer to be seen. In our childhood, we lit a candle on top of a tortoise which came ashore during the rainy season and got a good beating from our parents for the ‘sin’, committed on the innocent creature.
It has now become a misery to live in Battaramulla. I get up in the morning to the blaring of bus horns and the killing sound of their exhaust pipes. Moreover vehicle fumes soar all over. Is this so called development? The government in 1977 took over part of the marsh land for building purposes to house the government agencies. It was said that it was going to be a planned model township. Instead what we saw was a mass robbery of fertile marsh land. It was known as the “Great Diyawanna land robbery”. Unscrupulous elements with the connivance of government officers were responsible for the paying of compensation on bogus claims. We now have an unplanned township with a mix of government buildings and residential areas.
The marsh was a natural sanctuary for birds such as Storks, Herons, Darters, Kingfishers, Pelicans, Hornbills etc.
The government had declared the marsh area bordering the Diyawanna west bank and Nippon-Friendship Road as a bird sanctuary. However this area is gradually becoming a garbage dump.
The marsh land was full of water borne flowers. There were red and white lotuses, water lilies (Manel and Olu)and Kumudu (a small white water flower with a strong fragrance which blooms in the evening). They are no longer to be found. What price do we pay for the so called development?
The people of the village used well water for bathing and drinking. It is not possible to do it now because one is likely get water borne disease. I recollect during the rainy season when the marsh was flooded we made floating rafts from trunks of plantain trees and floated on the water for hours.
It is a pity that some new residents boast about the facilities available in the vicinity and about land values. Banks, supermarkets, restaurants, department stores and numerous sales outlets dot the area. True, it is convenient, but at what cost? |
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