Sri Lanka, Nov. 6 -- A large-scale racket is currently underway to reclaim and sell ancient reservoirs and paddy lands surrounding the sacred city of Anuradhapura, Chairman of the National Farmers' Union, Anuradha Tennakoon, told the Daily Mirror.

He said that several historic reservoirs and paddy fields belonging to the Atamasthana, including Basawakkulama, Pahala Katukeliyawa, and Thisawewa, are at serious risk of being illegally reclaimed and sold.

"Plans are now being made to reclaim even tanks that are more than a thousand years old," Tennakoon alleged. "A racket is operating to sell the paddy fields fed by these tanks without cultivating them, with the involvement of senior officials from the Department of Agriculture, the Provinc...