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Shivering students stranded after tour bus breaks down
Students had to face extremely cold conditions after their vehicle broke down on the way back from the Horton Plains
A group of students from the Galagama Maha Vidyalaya in Beliatta on an educational tour of Nuwara Eliya, received a nasty surprise on the first leg of their trip.
As part of the programme on 26 February, the group, comprising 23 girls, 35 boys a few teachers and parents first visited Horton Plains. They left the Plains for Nuwara Eliya at around 5.30 pm when disaster struck and the vehicle they were travelling in broke down at one of the most hazardous bends leading out of the Plains.
Despite the best efforts of the boys and the driver of the bus they were unable to get the bus started. With night falling and temperatures dropping, the tour party was in a bad way as none of them were used to the cold climate in the region. Fortunately, some officials of the Horton Plains National Park, who noticing their plight, informed the Nanu Oya police regarding the stranded students. By nightfall the entire party was in dire straits with none of them used to the cold conditions they were being exposed to.
A fire helped somewhat ease the cold
The school principal -Ms. Pushpa Kanthi Edirisinghe- who was with the tour party managed to get a fire going which somewhat helped warm the students and dispel the cold. Fortunately police parties from the Nanu Oya and Nuwara Eliya police stations arrived on the scene and helped take the tour party to the International Buddhist Center in Nuwara Eliya for the night.
On the way staff of the Pattipola railway station provided warm food to the cold and shivering group. By the time the party reached the International Buddhist Center it was 1.00 am in the morning.
The chief incumbent Ven. Kirioruwe Dheerananda welcomed his unexpected guests, while officers of the Special Task Force provided them dinner. On the 27th the students whiled their time away visiting the Nuwara Eliya Park until such time as their vehicle could be repaired. However even by the evening of the 27th, mechanics from Nuwara Eliya were unable to move the bus which was blocking the road and impeding other visitors to the Plains. Speaking to reports while at the park, Ms Edirisinghe said they had originally planned a long excursion from Nuwara Eliya to Kandy and then on to Anuradhapura.
She thanked the members of the Special Task Force at Ambewela, the Wild Life officials at the Horton Plains National Park, staff of the Nanu Oya and Nuwara Eliya police stations as well and the Ven. Kirioruwe Dheerananda of the International Buddhist Center.
However, this is not the first instance of a bus breaking down, blocking the road making it impassable at this particular bend. In April 2014, a bus carrying a group of undergraduates from the Jaffna University also got stranded at this bend and the students were rescued thanks mainly to the efforts of Additional District Secretary for Nuwara Eliya Vidura Sampath.
The latest incident affected not merely the students of the Galagama Maha Vidyalaya, many visitors to the Plains too were left frustrated at not being able to reach their destination due to the bus blocking the road. The national park too lost much revenue as a result of road becoming impassable.
Visitors to the plains and road users slammed the authorities for making little or no effort to ensure such incidents recurring despite having faced similar situation A better regulated road system would help avert such disasters.