Reproduction and old piece
Our Rivers
Some years ago I remember walking around the campus and finding all the bridges were badly maintained including the Railway Bridge in Peradenya and Panideniya.
I decided to write up something on river basin management.
If
I remember correct, I send a draft to a English National Daily but they
never bother to publish it or publish a similar article highlighting how
Kandy as a district was neglected by politicians for the last 35 years or so.
The politicians past and present once they assume duties come to Kandy as a routine pilgrimage in a motorcade (now in helicopters), over these dilapidated bridges and do sweet nothing afterward.
This
cycle goes on ritualistically since they never get out of their cars or
from their air conditioned rooms except for choreographed editions of
their meeting of the electorate.
So I decided to publish them in the open, that means in the Web.
Three
years after that a shoddy job was done at Peradeniya Motor Bridge
(nothing probably for Railway Bridge) and still the Peradeniya town is
under threat due to earth slips.
Most
of these damages were initialed by heavy construction undertaken to
construct Telecommunication Towers and some name boards on the hill
above the Peradeniya town.
If one walks along the river side of botanical gardens cracks were visible on the road for decades
but nobody took notice of all these symptoms and signs. The reckless negligence by successive governments went on unabated.
They provide lip
service come elections and after that they move to Colombo and never
come to Kandy, even during December holidays.
Kandy had been a neglected city after the British left for good.
I
have stated these observations based on my limited sphere of activity
and everybody who is somebody should observe what is neglected in his or
her sphere of activity and record and report them for the local
government to act.
But I cannot remember anybody acceding to my requests and comments.
However,
I did not go into details of landslide since my understanding about is
limited but my experience of it from childhood is enough, to say the
least.
I have seen part of the massive Ampitiya Uduwela landslide more than 50 years ago when many people left that village for good and settled elsewhere for safety of their life.
On person, I knew veey well was Mr. Wimalasena. He was our Laboratory Assistant, in Ampitiya college. He had sound understanding of science. His knowledge of understanding of local plants was outstanding. My understanding was if one cover a seed with soil and moision it water, it would germinate. This is not true of some. I was trying to germinate a "Rata Nelli" (Nelli is a local sour berry), for ages and could not. I asked him. He said the seed cracks open only due to intense heat and put some on the road to your house and let vehicle run over them during the drought. When rain comes a few of them would germinate by the side and let them grow for a while and pot them later. Sure, I did with excellent results. He lived upto 80s and he was poisoned with digitalis by the doctors in the local hospital. I examined medical his records and ECGs and carefully weaned him off. He used to bring various ornamental plants nicely planted in polythene bags and sell them for his daily living. His paltry pension was woefully inadequate. Then, I did not see him for sometime and assumed he passed away. I never asked him what happened to his family after the eartth slip. He never married again.
Now in Kandy no place is safe.
In
addition, during the Mahaveli Development the land reserves were
divided among some of the kith and kin in public service and politics
for a pittance. That resulted in further encroachment of the river basin.
One guy, I remeber was Wijeyapala Mendis. He bought the land for Rs. 20/= acre. His youngest brother told me, so. I used look after his kids in Negambo.
There was another guy named Dodanwela or Baddewela in the University who did purchase land for Rs. 20/=.
I was offered land for the same price when I was working for IMMI. I refused, simply because I used see lot of patients with Kidney disease in Digana and around. It was all due to lime or high concentration of calcium. Our family inherits urate problem and the combination of calcium and urate is cumulative. I did end up with an allied problem, since I did not drink enough water (only milk and Mesna Tea), when I am out in the city.
Coming to topic here;
The management of the river basin was left to mother nature.
In
addition heavy equipment used and detonation used over the past 30
years have compromised heavy tension wire installations. They even
remove or steal, the wires and reinforcement used to anchor the pillars. Enough
damage is alrady done, one day, high tension wires might fall on our heads.
Nobody would care a damn.
Roughly
a year ago Kandy train could not go past beyond Panideniya for three
days due to stretch of the track collapsing on to the drain. This
part is still not fully serviced and the trains do go pass that point to
Kandy daily.
I used to take train to Panideniya which only 20 minuted and 12 Rupees. But by bus 6 Rupees and 90 minutes.
I decided to stop going by this train since one is not sure whether one would return safely home the same evening.
It
is time we forget about Mega Projects and divert our attention at least
to refurbish the existing infrastructure before they fall apart
completely.
This is how the public service is managed and it is getting
worse by the season. There are so many ministries and there is no
coordination, to say the least.
The events that are unfolding in Kandy
and around are due to lack of foresight and negligence by the
authorities holding high posts.
This cycle will repeat ad lib.
Yes ultimate catastrophe befell on us.
I did not have the slightest clue something of this nature would happen. I still do not know what happened to Penideniya Station.
It is Clapham Junction in Ceylon.
Google asks for money for clear expanded view.
I won't bother paying
