Episode 33 – Senanayake Samudraya Sanctuary

Starting of the Sri Lanka’s first wildlife boat service

I joined the Wildlife Department on June 3, 1996, as a Class 3 Wildlife Ranger. At first, I was in charge of the Kataragama site for about 6 months, and then in January 1997, I was appointed as the in charge of the Meegala site on the west side of Galoya National Park.

Galoya National Park is located around the Senanayake Reservoir. It is managed by the custodian of Ingniagala Park. There is an area of 25,900 hectares here. There are four main zones: North, South, West, and East, to facilitate the control of the dam. That is, the northern side is the Mullegama site, the southern side is the Baduluwela site, the western side is the Nilgala site, and the eastern side is the Inginiagala park Central site.

The park’s official headquarters is located below the reservoir dam in Senanayake Samudra. But earlier, it was on top of reservoir dam. At present, Ingniagala old Park warden’s bungalow has been modified into a tourist bungalow.

I was assigned duties on the West Galoya side. In other words, the Ratugala and Nilgala tribes lived on the side of the Nilgala site. Their family name is Dunigala Maha Bandaralage. At that time, ‘Randuna’ Vannia was the leader of the village. Now his son, ‘Suda Vannia’, is the leader of the tribe.

The Senanayake Samudraya was built by damming up the Galoya River during the 1949–1953 era. In the past, the Nilgala Loggalwela area was an isolated village where indigenous people lived. When the 25,900-hectare National Park around Senanayake Samudra was gazetted, around 20 old villages were removed and taken over under the Galoya Development Project. The villages of Henebedda and Danigala, described in the literary works by R. L. Spittle, were submerged in the Senanayake Samudraya. Indigenous people who lived in those places have now settled in Ratugala. The Nilgala site of Loggalwela is one such relocated village.

The Nilgala site is located in 10 km of the southern side of the forest by the village called Bulugala, which is at the 20 km Bibila Nilgala road. This is an office built in the year 1950. There was a bungalow called Lopgalwela Bungalow where the white people who came to hunt stayed. There are ruins near the new office. That is why people still call the new office Lopgalwela Bungalow.The environment of Nilgala West is different, and it is a savanna forest. There are aralu, bulu, and nelli plants. These plants are called “Davi” in Sinhala. The meaning of the name of ”Davi” plants is that they will not die if caught in the fire. It also has pangirimana plants as well.

The Galoya River, which starts from Dorabora hill between Lunugala and Passara above Bibila village, passes through Bibila and Adhiwala villages for about 20 km, passes through the Nilgala Savanna forest, and falls into the Senanayake Samudraya from a place called Makara, which is located between a mountain range. From there, it is 11 km to the reservoir dam of the Senanayake Samudraya. Near Makara, the Gal Oya River goes underground, and no river can be seen above. At the beginning of the reservoir, the river rises again.

The Senanayake Samudra has been built by damming up the Galoya River. It is spread over 3927 hectares. Senanayake Samudraya was gazetted as a sanctuary on February 12, 1954. While supplying irrigation water to the farmers from the Senanayake Samudraya, water is also taken to the power plant. Fishermen engage in fishing there. Connecting the Inginiagala ‘Igini’ hill with the south ‘Dangolla’ hill on the opposite side, the 140-foot-high and 3600-foot-long reservoir dam has been built using earth.

Senanayake Samudraya is the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka, and it holds 777,000-acre feet of water. The high mountains that were submerged under the reservoir still emerge as islands in the Senanayake Samudraya. There are more than 10 such islands. All these islands are hunting grounds and breeding grounds for aquatic birds in Sri Lanka. Thousands of birds make nests on these small islands. Kurulu Island, Nabili Gala Island, and Sandagiri Pawwa are some of these islands. The name “Sandagiri Pawwa” was coined by Pandith W.D. Amaradeva, Mr. Dharmasiri Gamage, and Mr. Pushpananda, the caretaker of the park, when they stayed on the island on a moonlit day in the year 1997.

The reservoir was built by damming up the main river, Gal Oya. However, not only Gal Oya but several other streams fall into the reservoir. Badulu Wela Oya, Sellakka Oyastreaming from the south side, Gurulu Oya starting from Buddama mountain range, Mullegama River coming from north Mullegama, and Kadella Bay Aru coming from Dangala mountain range fall into the reservoir.

Now this island is used as a wildlife camping ground. Elephants swim to these islands every day of the year. The reason is that before the construction of the reservoir dam in 1949, the migration corridor of elephants used to pass through this rout. That is why elephants are still swimming from island to island along those routes. This scene is very attractive.

Based on this incident, I started a boat service in 2008 as the Warden of the Park. The boat that was supposed to patrol the reservoir was used first. Boats come from the reservoir dam side to Makara and return to the reservoir dam side. Starting with one boat, the number of boats increased to three. Initially a journey of 06 hours, and later, with the increased demand, 3 boat trips of 3 hours each started at 6.00 am, 9.30 am, and 3.00 pm. Of these, the 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. boat services are very popular.

One boat has eight seats, while life jackets and a trained boat operator and guide are provided by the wildlife department. Then, ten passengers are possible in total. Tickets for the boats can be purchased from the Inginiagala Park Warden’s office. Senanayake Samudraya is located on the road from Pasikuda, Arugambe, to Badulla, which is a route used by foreign tourists to Sri Lanka. Therefore, the boat service became popular among foreign tourists. Initially, income from boat service was Rs. 18,000/-, and now it has increased to more than Rs. 100 lakhs per year.

As of today, two large tourist hotels and other tourist accommodation facilities have been set up there. Apart from this, only 130 fishing boats are used for fishing in the reservoir.

It is my achievement to start this tourist boat service. I will never forget it. Although there are many forest-related memories in my life, starting the boat service is special among them.