{"id":97125,"date":"2020-01-01T00:10:19","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T06:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=97125"},"modified":"2020-01-01T17:29:20","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T00:29:20","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-10e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/01\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-10e\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 10E"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Revised 1.1.2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many land mines were laid by the\nLTTE in their treasonable war against the Government of Sri Lanka. Landmines\nwere one of ways the LTTE tried to \u2018win\u2019 the war. After the war, it fell to the\narmy to clear these land mines. The mines had to be cleared before the Tamils\ncould be re-settled on the land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was a formidable challenge.\nThere were no maps of the land mines laid out by the LTTE. Sri Lanka army\nreported that LTTE minefields have been laid without clear recording or\nmarking. Mines have been laid in front of defensive positions, which have\nsubsequently been hurriedly evacuated, and the mines forgotten about.   LTTE also laid nuisance minefields to\nprevent access to facilities such as wells, roads, footpaths, and food. These\nmines also are not marked. All   nuisance\nmines were laid by the LTTE, emphasized the army. It is this type of landmines\nthat has created the greatest threat to resettled and returning displaced\npeople. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Security Forces laid mines purely as a defensive measure. They did\nnot use mines as an offensive weapon. Sri Lankan Security Forces have laid\nprotective minefields to prevent the LTTE from reoccupying defended areas.\nThese minefields are laid in keeping with universally accepted standards of\nlaying to a specific pattern following proper marking and recording procedures.\nThe records amounting to 3,000 minefields, except those relevant to High\nSecurity Zones  were released to the\nother organizations involved in mine action and these records have helped easy\nand speedy recovery of mines. Anti-tank\nmines were used by the armed forces only to cover prominent vehicle\napproaches.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demining was done by the Sri Lanka army with the     assistance of HALO Trust, MAG, DASH and\nSHARP. The HALO Trust (Hazardous Area\nLife-support Organization) is a registered British charity and American non-profit organization<\/a> which\nremoves land mines<\/a>.  HALO\nbegan working in Sri Lanka in 2002. The Mines\nAdvisory Group (MAG) is a\nNGO based in Manchester<\/a>, and\nhas a sister organization, in Washington. It  <\/a> assists people affected by landmines<\/a>. MAG\nfield operations are managed by the  nationals of that country, MAG expatriate staff  monitor and train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delvon Assistance for Social Harmony (DASH) is a Sri Lankan non-profit\ndemining NGO, consisting only of Sri Lankans, about 90% Tamils, all specialized\nand experienced in the field of Humanitarian Demining. DASH is funded by the Governments\nof Australia (AusAID) and Japan (GGP). \nDASH started operations in 2011. \nSKAVITA Humanitarian Assistance and Relief Project (SHARP)  has the government of Japan as its main donor.\nIt started operations in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan has been a major donor in the area of mine clearance in Sri\nLanka since 2003, with more than US$ 35 million assistance in total through its\nGrant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP). In 2019 Japan\ngave US$ 1,266,825 (approx. Rs. 219 million) for the SKAVITA Humanitarian\nAssistance and Relief Project (SHARP) and the HALO Trust for humanitarian\ndemining in Northern Sri Lanka.Norway provided funds to HALO and MAG. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka achieved an impressive\nrecord in this demining having cleared 1,319 sq km out of an area of 1,419 by\n2012. De-mining operation has gone much faster than\nin other countries such as Cambodia observed the Government in 2012. Nearly\n5000 anti personnel mines were removed by the army risking their lives, so that\nthe Tamils could be resettled, reported the media in 2012. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As at end of 2018, only 25 sq.km is remaining to be cleared. This area\nincluded Muhamalai in the Kilinochchi District, Nagarkovil in the Jaffna\nDistrict, Maritimepattu and Oddusudanin in the Mullaitivu District and other\nareas in the Northern and Eastern Districts. Those engaged in demining, both\nforeign and local, said in 2018  they had\nfound it extremely difficult to conduct demining operations in Muhamalai in\nKilinochchi and Ambagam in Mullaitivu. However, by 2019 the mines clearance\nprogramme enabled the release of 1277 sq.km for safe settlement .<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work of the Sri Lanka army was recognized\nabroad. In 2016 Mine detection\ndog Alvin and his handler   Lance\ncorporal GNWM Navaratne were selected as the Mine detection Team of the Year by\nthe US based Marshall Legacy Institute. They have together demined from 2011 to\n2016 an approximate land area of 73,340 sq mm in the north and east.\nThis has enabled 1945 displaced of 415 families to return to their original\nplaces of inhabitation, said the citation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018 A nine-member delegation of the Cambodian\nMine Action Authority  of the Cambodian\ngovernment visited the Muhamalai Humanitarian De-mining site, to learn from the\nSri Lanka Army\u2019s de-miners. International Meeting on Mine Action for National\nDirectors and UN Advisors, in 2019 commended the achievement of Sri Lanka, when\ncompared to other countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work of the Sri Lanka army was recognized\nabroad. In 2016 Mine detection dog Alvin and his handler   Lance corporal GNWM Navaratne were selected\nas the Mine detection Team of the Year by the US based Marshall Legacy\nInstitute. They have together demined from 2011 to 2016 an approximate land\narea of 73,340 sq mm in the north and east. This has enabled 1945 displaced of\n415 families to return to their original places of inhabitation, said the\ncitation.[1]<\/a>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\nLanka became a mine riddled country thanks to  land mines laid  by the LTTE. Sri Lanka  signed the Mine Ban Treaty  in December 2017. Sri Lanka, having acceded\nto this Mine Ban Treaty will have four years from June 2018 to ensure that it\ndoes not use, stockpile, produce or transfer any anti-personnel mines (APMs),\nannounced the media. Only a small quantity of\nAPMs will be permitted in the country for training purposes. This makes the\ngovernment of Sri Lanka sound as if it was the guilty party, when the real\nculprit is the LTTE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka army has initiated two innovations in mine clearing, one is\nalready in practice, the other is still in the pipeline. The one in practice is\nthe locally developed raking method. This is used by DASH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this method a heavy rake is used to soften and prod the ground.\nThis rake is pulled horizontal through the possible mine infested soil, loosing\nup the soil and possible hitting\/locating the mines on the side. As the mines\nare designed to activate only if hit on the top, this action will not set on\nthe mine, and we have only had one incident where a mine went off while\nexcavating with the heavy rake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigations afterwards showed that the mine had been tilted by the\ngrowth of the roots of a small tree, thereby standing\u201d on the side, so when\nthe heavy rake hit the mine, it was activated but fortunately the PPE and the\nlong handle of the rake ensured that no harm came to the deminer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the soil is loosened up, the deminer will use the light garden\nrake to remove the soil. This rake is originally designed for removing grass\ncuttings from the lawn without damaging the lawn. Each of the fingers (in total\n22) bend back if any serious pressure is made onto it, far less than the\npressure that is needed to set off the type of AP mines we are recovering. It\ncan therefore be used safely to remove the soft soil, sweeping it away from the\ntop. Some operators use both the rakes and metal detectors together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a second innovation which is still\nat a the experimental stage. The Sri Lanka Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 research\narm has launched a pilot project to study the possibility of utilizing the\nindigenous grey mongoose for the detection of explosives.\u201dWe initially used\ndetectors to trace explosives. Later, dogs were used for the detection of\nexplosives. However, one of the biggest issues with dogs is that it is a very\nexpensive operation as we cannot breed them locally. We have to import them\nfrom Europe or America and train them to detect explosives. It costs around Rs.\n2 million to import a dog. Dogs can sniff out explosives and other parts of the\nmine or UXO (unexploded ordnance) body. They are therefore commonly used within\nmine and UXO detection programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Training a dog to detect explosives is difficult\nand time-consuming, and can take from three months to several years. A mine\ndetection dog may well be trained far from the country where it is later to be\ndeployed, but a period of acclimatization and adaptation to the new climate,\nthe soil and the mine or UXO type in the operating area is always required.\nThis period can take from one to six months depending on whether there is a\nneed to train new dog handlers from the target area too. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The price of a high-quality mine dog is high,\nwhile other limiting factors are unfavorable climatic conditions (such as\nexcessive heat and humidity, too much wind or wind blowing in the wrong\ndirection), thick vegetation, and dense minefields. The latter will result in a\ncomplete contamination of the wider area and thereby confuse the dog. Daily\nworking hours vary from a few hours to six or seven hours per day. Dogs tend to\nwork for shorter periods in hot climates, while they are able to work for\nlonger periods where it is colder. A mine dog can scour a few hundred to a\nthousand square metres per day (figures vary sharply), depending on local\nconditions and training. However, like humans, dogs may have bad days where\nmotivation is low. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We too began to look into the possibility of\nother cost-effective alternatives. Brigadier Seneviratne had initially done a\nstudy in 2016 on whether the mongoose can be used for the detection of\nexplosives. We also found that a local university had undertaken research and\nfound that the mongoose can be used for explosives detection, apart from dogs.\nOther than that, we had no research to go on,\u201d said Major Herath. .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial experiments were done with the wet\nzone reddish mongoose and the dry zone grey mongoose, and of the two, the grey\nmongoose showed greater sniffing capability than its counterpart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While training dogs in explosives\u2019 detection, we\nuse the reward method, where they are rewarded when they respond well to the\ntraining. Hence, we began experiments with the mongoose to see how they\nresponded to the same reward system. We used both species of mongoose for this\ninitial experiment and our experiments established that the dry zone grey\nmongoose showed greater ability to sniff out explosives. We also did research\non the direction of the sniffing capabilities of the grey mongoose. As with\ndogs, they only have downward sniffing capability, which means that they can\nmore accurately sniff areas below their feet rather than scents at a fair\ndistance or above their head. Dogs rarely have upward sniffing capability.\nHowever, with the grey mongoose, they have a wider sniffing range. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, we recruited a specialist who was\nknowledgeable about the mongoose and its behaviour, food habits, and\ncapabilities. Then we undertook the research and were amazed at the mongoose\u2019s\nsniffing capability and response to reward-based training,\u201d he said, adding\nthat as a secondary project, the Army was looking at breeding possibilities\nunder a controlled system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, we have around nine mongooses in our\nresearch programme, and, of them, one has been trained to a very satisfactory\nlevel. We have also utilized funds allocated by the Army for research purposes.\nAlso undertake research on the possibility of breeding the mongoose locally.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, visiting scholar at Harvard\nUniversity\u2019s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and 2008-09 Radcliffe\nInstitute Fellow Thrishantha Nanayakkara and a group from Moratuwa University\nhave done an explosives’ detection study using the mongoose. They picked an\nindigenous mongoose for its temperament, size (roughly 2.5 kilogrammes, light\nenough to step on a mine without detonating it), and sense of smell (ability to\ndetect explosives three metres away). .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nanayakkara equipped a robot (roughly a metre\ntall and half-a-metre wide) with a harness to keep the mongoose under control\nand a video camera to record its findings. Although the mongoose walks a few\nfeet ahead, the robot with its eight metal legs sets the pace. During the test\nrun, the pair went back and forth across a 10-by-10-metre plot, stopping\nwhenever the mongoose detected a mine, which it indicated by sitting up (as it\nwas trained to do). In a morning\u2019s work, the mongoose found every mine, proving\nits effectiveness in explosives\u2019 detection. (Daily News  3.8.18. p 4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The success of the initial experiments bring\ngreat hope that the indigenous grey mongoose could prove to be a cheaper\nalternative in explosives\u2019 and mine detection than the far more expensive\nmethod of using imported dogs.\u201d This may be another first for the Sri Lanka\narmy. ( continued)
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a>\nDaily News 24.8.16 p 7 Modern used file 13 .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised 1.1.2020 Many land mines were laid by the LTTE in their treasonable war against the Government of Sri Lanka. Landmines were one of ways the LTTE tried to \u2018win\u2019 the war. After the war, it fell to the army to clear these land mines. The mines had to be cleared before the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}