Return to Meemure - 2003

Pic Curtsy EnageBang                                                          Lakegala - Meemure

Meemure having come into the limelight after the parliamentary elections in 2001 caused me to return to this old Kandyan village to perceive what progress it made since my last visit 20 years back.

My first visit to Meemure was in 1975, in my university days and then it was another remote location that we adventured during our leisure. Public means of transport to Meemure then, and even now was by bus and one had to alight at Loolwatte on the Kandy Mahiyangane road. This is followed by a trek of almost 20 kilometers by foot for there is no public transport to the village from Loolwatte. However, there are now vans that will take passengers to the village depending on the need and the road conditions for a very generous fee.

The road is being renovated and done up with concrete and other road construction means with a new bridge across the rivulet. The last 7 kilometers is still under construction and is negotiable with difficulty, on the way up when almost every evening is gloomy and drizzly. Our van driver had bundles of hay ready at hand in case the road was slippery on the climb back. The end of the road is at the village center where a giant ‘Mee’ tree sits in the center of the road. The tree had survived the 20 years even with the current road work. Not much has changed, except for a new health center provided with solar-powered electricity and a Divisional Secretariat building that had come up during this period. The other major change was a massive stone plaque at the base of the old ‘Mee’ tree noting the Prime man had been here to inaugurate the road rehabilitation work.

Pic Curtsy Lakdasun                                   The Mee tree -

The unforgettable scenic ‘Lakegala’ the massive rock outcrop depicting a gigantic inclined Sivalingam was in the backdrop of the village. The numerous bird calls from the virgin forests around ‘Lakegala’ was an open invitation for bird watching. The footpath to the forest was the same as then; only it was marked with red painted arrows making it easy for a stranger to find the way into the forest and back. The path snaked up the hill passing the home garden plots demarcated by loose stone walls as seen in Irish farm plots.

About 3 kilometers into the forest even the trees had those red markings. These were different from the arrows but with a letter, E painted on them. On return after a stint of birding, and inquiries made of the markings on the trees. We were told they were the trees to be felled for the proposed electricity supply to Meemure from distant Pallegama about 10 kilometers in Laggala. This would be the shortest distance from the source as the crow flies. 

Meemure should get its share of electricity in this new world, there is no contention. But isn't there other means; without felling down all these giants that have stood there for over 500 years…. Just to light up an isolated landlocked village in the Knuckles range when there are alternative ways to provide electricity to Meemure? There is definitely very high potential in tapping the waterways that flow around Meemure to supply electricity through a mini hydro-power system. There is the never-ending wind energy to be harnessed at the famous Corbets Gap which of course is a longer feeder line without chopping the forest. With so much of alternate energy resources waiting to be harnessed; I’m quite sure if proper exposure of the village is done to the outside world, finding funds would not be that difficult.

However, the dangerous threat that I foresee of the Lakegala forest was quite imminent with the new road coming up. Close by the famous Mee tree at the village center was a giant Mara tree measuring a girth not less than 30 feet, which had been felled and logged into five sections. They were all awaiting a permit to be transported out. This will not be a problem anymore with the new Divisional Secretariat in the village commencing operations soon?