Mavilaru villagers recount ordeal

Ranil Wijayapala from Serunuwara, Kantale

KANTALE: They first deprived them of water which once flowed freely from the Mavilaru ancient which sustained 15,000 families in Seruwila and the adjoining villages not to mention the 30,000 acres of paddy lands which is now condemned to lay waste for want of water.

Then they forced them out of their villages by reining artillery shells on the hapless citizens of villages of Mahindapura and Serunuwara and Alioluwa in the early hours of yesterday.

A 24 year old pregnant mother broke down in tears as the door of our van shut behind her. Leaving her husband at the village, Pathmashanthi got into the van along with other villagers to be admitted in Kantale base hospital for urgent treatment. She heard the LTTE guns boom close to her home around 3.15 am. Fear for her life compelled her to flee with her husband. She ran to escape the shelling of their village by the LTTE.

Fear of losing not only her life but also that of her child she headed for the Mahaweli Maha Vidyalaya along with more than 2,000 people from various villages surrounding the Serunuwara Police Station.

We met these innocent villagers from Serunuwara, Alioluwa, Mahindapura and other villages around 10.30 a.m. yesterday as we reached the Mahaweli Maha Vidyalaya.

"They started shelling the villages adjacent to the Mavilaru area around 3.15 a.m. and advanced towards the villages firing at Home Guards manning security points at Serunuwara and Alioluwa villages," a villager at Mahaweli Maha Vidyalaya told the Daily News.

"Our Home Guards fought bravely to stop the advancing LTTE terrorists toward the village and were able to kill a number of terrorists in the Arippu area," a Home Guard on the first security point at Arippu said. "They wanted to impede the advancement of the Security Forces towards the Mavilaru anicut. That is why they are attacking us," a villager who did not want his name to be revealed for security reasons said.

The LTTE which was facing severe difficulties holding the Mavilaru anicut for more than 12 days launched lightening strikes at Army camps in Selvanagara, Kattaparichchan and Pahala Thopur and Muttur South of Trincomalee with the objective of impeding the troop advancement towards the Mavilaru anicut.

Shells had fallen on the adjacent villages in Mavilaru as villagers ran for their lives. "We could not even take our essentials with us. We came here only with the clothes we are wearing to escape LTTE shelling," they said.

But they are not ready to leave their villages. "We will live here despite the LTTE threats. We will protect our villages with the assistance of the police and the Security Forces a villager said with determination. They were busy planning their needs for the people. Water bowsers hurriedly reached the spot even as food stocks from the village co-operative outlet arrived.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa personally contacted the Serunuwara Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman and gave him authority to use food stocks at cooperative shops for the villages, a villager informed us.

What they now need is better security. "We knew that they were upto something when we observed LTTE cadres moving in the Mavilaru area. We informed the relevant authorities as early as possible but nothing happened", he said.

The LTTE forcibly closed the sluice gates of the Mavilaru anicut depriving water to 15,000 villagers and 30,000 acres of paddy land.

The hopes of the farmers were shattered as once verdant paddy fields gradually took on a pale hue and a dark yellow as they withered away after being starved of water for the past 12 days and hopes of rescuing the anicut from the LTTE grip too fading away.

"We know it is a difficult task. The LTTE is taking cover of the tank bund to attack the Security Forces moving towards the anicut through the land, they said.

But they are determined to extend their support to the Security Forces.