The official Vap festival of the North Central Province, was held on Friday in Hingurakgoda. Last year, two official Vap festivals were held in the province – one in Bakamuna, Elahara and the other in Welikanda.
One would not be mistaken if they were to interpret last year’s official Vap festivals as “experimental festivals.”
This is because the plough that was used in the festival held in Elahara had both a buffalo and dairy cow harnessed to it.
The incident gained national coverage as a result of the dairy cow attempting to get on to dry land while the buffalo preferred the muddy field.Thereby it was proven in Elahara that reconciliation between dairy cows and buffalo, would be a difficult task.
While experimentation may lead to results in the laboratory, it may not be entirely appropriate for the fields.
At this year’s Vap festival, the organisers experimented with using an elephant to plough the fields.
This was a historic never-before-seen event.
The North Central Provincial Council spent more than Rs.100,000 to transport the elephant from Giriulla to Hingurakgoda.
While there are plenty of buffaloes in the environs of Hingurakgoda, a similar sum of money spent on transporting the elephant, was spent to transport a herd of buffalo from Galkiriyagama.
Given that the Provincial Council has apparently forgotten its duty to farmers as a result of the enthusiasm shown towards experimentation at Vap festivals, it is possible that if a Vap festival is held in areas including Ambagaswewa and Diyasenpura in future, farmers too may have to be brought in from outside.
This is because the Ambagaswewa reservoir, which nourishes fields in the area, is on the brink of becoming a ruin.
nts have been forced to use sandbags to plug the leak and prevent disaster.The leak sprung up during the last Maha season.
The subsequent drought, provided ample opportunity for the authorities to repair the leak near the sluice.At present, the situation is dire as a result of heavy rains which has caused the reservoir to fill up.
As the water level rises gradually, band-aid solutions like sandbags will not withstand the pressure.With disaster looming for the people of Ambagaswewa, it is possible that the authorities at the Provincial Council continues to procrastinate as they expect their experiments at the Vap festival to revolutionise agriculture in the country.
Notwithstanding that, they may be hoping to hold a new rice festival using imported rice in the future.
Governor of the North Central Province – Over to you.
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