Dambulla residents given 24 hrs

Several residents living within the Dambulla sacred land area have been asked to vacate their homes with 24 hours, the BBC Sandeshiya reported.
The residents have told the BBC that the order had come from the Matale District officer.
Some 35 families have been ordered to vacate their homes to facilitate development work in the area.
According to the residents, they had been told that they are living on state land and so will not be compensated.
“We have no place to go. We were born, educated and grew up here,” one resident had told the BBC Sinhala service.
The resident said that while they were living on land which has been demarcated as sacred land maintained by the historic Dambulla Temple, they will leave if alternative land was given.
However the residents claim the orders they have received is that if they fail to vacate their homes then the houses will be razed to the ground. (Colombo Gazette)