Report Outlines Problems Of Sigiriya Rock Fortress

Report Outlines Problems Of Sigiriya Rock Fortress

The Policy Development Office attached to the Office of the Prime Minister says the Sigiriya world heritage site is facing an alarming rate of monument degradation, due to site overcrowding by over visitation and environmental weathering by nature.

In a statement the Office of the Prime Minister said considering the importance of having a sustainable tourism plan for Sigiriya, the Sub-Committee on Sustainable Tourism has formulated a report titled ‘Proposal for Mitigating over Crowding at the World Heritage site of Sigiriya

n suggesting potential solutions, the report included proposals for renovating the land extent to the east of the Sigiriya Rock, prior to entry into the Water Garden Precinct; an implementation of a crowd management policy, with appropriate visitor facilities which would function as crowd-holding areas; better hotel accommodations within the designated tourist zones which do not hinder the Rock’s landscape, as well as affordable accommodations for the local tourist population and the adoption of measures to limit access to the fresco rock pocket only for serious researchers, in order to save the original paintings from destruction.

Though there had been suggestions to attempt to eliminate the wasps, due to the possibility of attack on the Rock, the report has stressed that this would not be smart. “This would be a disaster as they (the wasps) would return as their generations have done for centuries to build hives on the cooler under surface of the rock the next season. But this time following the theory of evolution, they would be prepared for any human intervention.”