Unearthing gems

14 February 2012 04:48 pm

A crowd of more than 5,000 people from several areas flocked to the Lunugamwehera Road near the Viharamahadevi Chaithya in Kataragama in search of gems on hearing that a woman had found a precious stone in a pile of earth lying by the roadside. Gem merchants from Ratnapura, Eheliyagoda, Kahawatta and Okkampitiya were among them. The road is now being widened and the earth has been removed during excavations however police have taken steps to provide protection to the road. Pix by M.K. Nandasena