Tamil farmers in Kokkilai have raised urgent concerns over what they say is the encroachment of ancestral agricultural lands for the construction of an elephant fence and a proposed salt pan in Mullaitivu district.
Representatives of Kokkilai farmers’ associations submitted a complaint to Vanni District Member of Parliament Thurairasa Ravikaran, highlighting ongoing activities by the Mahaweli Development Authority within the Kokkilai Agrarian Services Division. According to the complaint, work is underway to construct an elephant fence that cuts across paddy fields cultivated by Tamil farmers in areas including Kumavadi Kandal, Naayadichamurippu, Kannatti and Akkaraiveli.
Farmers state that the fence is being erected through lands traditionally owned and cultivated by Tamil families. They contend that Sinhala settler farmers who have engaged in agricultural activity on lands they describe as encroached are seeking protection from wild elephants, and that the fence is being positioned across paddy fields currently under cultivation by Tamil farmers.
Representatives of the Kokkilai farmers’ associations have also alleged that the erection of the elephant fence by the Mahaweli Authority forms part of a broader strategy to facilitate the appropriation of Tamil-owned farmland and undermine the land rights of local Tamil cultivators.
In a related development, concerns have been raised regarding reported attempts to establish a salt pan in the Kottaikeni area within the Kokkilai Central Grama Niladhari Division. Farmers allege that the proposed project would occupy ancestral Tamil agricultural lands and further threaten their livelihoods.
On 23 February 2026, MP Ravikaran visited the Mullaitivu District Secretariat with representatives of the Kokkilai farmers’ associations and formally raised the issue with Mullaitivu District Secretary A. Umamaheswaran. He urged that immediate attention be given to the concerns raised by farmers.
The MP highlighted that efforts to establish a salt pan in Kottaikeni appear to contravene a resolution previously adopted by the Mullaitivu District Coordinating Committee, which determined that Tamil lands in the area should not be appropriated for such a project.
He called for appropriate action to address both the construction of the elephant fence across Tamil paddy fields and the reported plans for the salt pan.
In response, the District Secretary requested that the farmers’ organisation submit a formal written representation detailing their grievances and stated that steps would be taken to examine the matter and pursue appropriate action.
The developments have heightened anxiety among Tamil farmers in Kokkilai, a region that has long witnessed disputes over land ownership, state backed development schemes and demographic change in the Tamil homeland. Tamil civil society groups have repeatedly warned that projects led by state authorities, including the Mahaweli Development Authority, have facilitated land appropriation and the marginalisation of Eelam Tamil farmers.
