gold fund from kelani river
kelani gangen hamba una raththaran, menik garanawa kelani gange
Hundreds of people were mining the river there and the ground sources say that one of them can collect gold sand to the value of Rs. 4000 in day's mining.
True to their claim, tiny gold pieces but not gold dust was seen glittering when sifting the river deposits. It was the People’s Alliance Dompe Pradeshiya Sabha member – Ajith Sisira Kumara that first broke the news to The Sunday Leader about the gold rush in Pugoda.
When The Sunday Leader visited Pugoda on Thursday, Ajith Kumara showed where the gold mining was taking place. It is a remote area with no suitable roads for vehicles. Unlike in Kataragama where there was a rush to unearth gems a few months ago, those who were in shallow waters searching for gold at Pugoda, were working amicably. Not a single person who got into the water in search of gold has gone home empty handed. Each group had two members – one to collect sand and another to sift through it.
The gold panners fear that government authorities would come and claim the gold – as they did when gems were found in Tammannawa in Kataragama in February. “Four to five years ago in the same vicinity, a group of sand miners found gems in the river bed and the people found gems to the value of two to three lakhs of rupees. Since then those who come to the river for their daily purposes did not forget to take the river deposits even to their palms to see whether there are gems. When a few sand miners were looking out for gems last week, they had found some glittering pieces and it was later confirmed to be gold,” Ajith Kumara told The Sunday Leader.
These villagers were seen taking the earth from shallow waters into small iron chatties – which are commonly used by masons to put the cement mixture in.
They were seen sharing one cigarette, one quid of betel (bulath wita) and one glass of tea. Although most of the middle-aged residents preferred gold mining in shallow waters on both sides of the Kelani ganga, the young boys were seen mining in the middle of the river-some were seen diving and bringing the river deposits while the others were seen sifting the deposits on a rock.
“We do not want to give any publicity to this ‘gold mine’ as we know what the consequences will be nor have we informed the local police. When gems were found a few years ago the police came in disguise as government officials and chased away the residents and started looking for gems. It will be the same if they come to know about this,” said Ajith Kumara.
Although Kumara himself is a local ruling party politician, he is dead against government officials who may claim these unearthed valuables. “We all saw what happened at Tammannawa in Kataragama. All the well-deserving poor villagers who gathered in search of some luck were chased away by the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA) officials. They auctioned the land to the rich including senior government officials and assigned the army to guard the area. What happened next? Those who were in charge of the army guard, ministers and local politicians together with ‘top’ government officials in the area started gem mining in the middle of the night. It would be a surprise if the same thing does not happen in Pugoda as well,” said Ajith Kumara.
Speaking to The Sunday Leader, Piyadasa who too was lucky enough to unearth gold pieces said that all those who come in search of gold have not gone home empty handed. “For a day the entire weight of gold we all could unearth amounts to around five grams – equal to a quarter sovereign. Small scale jewelery shop owners come to the river and purchase these gold pieces from us. Our daily income is now over Rs. 4,000,” claimed Piyadasa. According to Ajith Kumara and Piyadasa, the daily findings have gradually increased over the last week and they believe that the people could earn a better living at a time when the cost of living has gone through the roof.
“Most of these people are either labourers or engaged in daily paid work. Since gold was found all these poor villagers are now rushing to the Kelani ganga in search of instant riches. Although I am a local politician representing the government, I am completely against the government interfering in gold mining and prevent these innocent villagers from earning money, not to build castles but to provide a good meal to their kith and kin who were partially starving due to soaring prices of the essential food items,” added Ajith Kumara.
Last year the Authority said gold ore could be found in Balangoda, Kirinnabara areas and the areas close to Walawe and Menik Rivers.
(report taken from sunday leader & images from lankadeepa)
