Daily NEWS Srilanka

Villagers who were in the process of digging a drain day-before-yesterday (9) to install water lines in the village of Mailapitiya, Keppetiyawa of Patha Hewaheta Provincial Secretariat Division, Kandy have come across a mysterious tunnel. People who got down into the tunnel have mentioned that the tunnel is about 30 feet length and that a person

When making enquiries from those villagers what D.M. Jayakody told us was: "Several people got inside the tunnel. The tunnel runs to a distance of about 30 feet. A person can even walk upright. There's a dense darkness and a terrible heat inside as well. It's even difficult to breathe. Something like a stone dam is seen constructed round the tunnel. There was however nothing to be seen inside the tunnel as such. No signs of water seeping inside or erosion of soil can be seen. What is seen is that there is no more than two feet of a layer of earth on the surface.

Dissanayaka Mudiyanse an 82 year old person living in Keppetiyawa village had this to say: "It's over 50 years since we have come to this village; but nobody had heard of a tunnel like this before. There's no ruins either to be seen around the environs here. About 50 years before, these were jungles. We came and cleared up all this. What Mrs. D.M. Renuka (36) said was: "There's a place called Hena Gehuwala a little distance away from here on the other side. There's a large pit there. Now it's covered by the forest. Don't know why that place is called like that. All the people in the village call that place by that name. It's stated in folk lore that when the British invaded the upcountry, they were involved in a battle with the Sinhalese and that Wagolla warriors had hidden themselves and attacked their foes. As such, it could be assumed that a warrior would have taken refuge at this location".

Keppetiyawa villagers have notified about this to Thalathu Oya Police and the officers of the Archaelogical Department.

Hantana -- Chaminda Kumara; Kandy -- Kamal Suraweera