Located outside the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, the Pitakale Road connects the interior Pitakale Village to the rest of the world. With a total extent of around 2 km, over half of this narrow road had already been concreted by the Pradeshiya Sabha. However, this still left the community living in the Pitakale Village to face a predicament when reaching the main road for their daily needs.
At the request of the Forest Department, ESCAMP facilitated the renovation of the most-badly damaged area of 242 metres of this road through the community-based organisation (CBO) of the village with technical support provided by the Forest Department. With required quality standards maintained during construction, the community is satisfied with the construction process as they were also involved with the work through their CBO.
Since the road was not widened, and the existing path concreted, no major environmental issues have been observed. While the construction period was short, and the disturbance to surrounding ecosystems minimal, the area is now gradually stabilising. More than 250 families benefit from this renovation as they can now transport village products – including tea and vegetables – to the town and beyond.
| Before Renovation | After Renovation |
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