Pigs of HSZ harm crops, youth electrocuted in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 December 2010, 15:45 GMT]
Pigs, never heard of in the densely populated Jaffna peninsula before, now breed in the thickets of Sri Lanka military occupied High Security Zone in Valikaamam and they infiltrate into neighbouring villages seriously damaging crops and causing severe economic hardship to farmers. On Thursday, a family man, 25-year-old Chandrasekaran Packiyaraja of Kadduvan West, died of electrocution on the spot when he came into contact with live wires placed by a farmer to prevent HSZ pigs.

Densely populated villages were evacuated by occupying Sri Lanka military in Valikaamam North 20 years ago.

Vast tracts of this potential agricultural and settlement lands have become jungles.

As hunting the wild boars that breed in the HSZ jungles is beyond the means of the neighbouring villagers, they tend to put up live electricity wires to protect their crops.

Affliction to cultivation affect the people of the war-torn North and East and make them more and more dependent on produce from outside.

The overall impact of sabotage of agricultural produce is felt even in cities like Colombo, where a coconut costs 50 rupees. Coconuts are being imported from India and are sold in ration as 5 nuts per head at the rate of 30 rupees. Eggs and onions are also similarly imported from India.

In the 1960s and 70s coconut products such as oil were smuggled into India from the island.