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Public services plan how to avert future crises
View(s):Some public services were so severely hit by the frequent power interruptions that officials were left searching for answers on how best to meet such crises in the future.
When the power outage first occurred last Sunday (March 13), severe traffic congestion was reported from Colombo and suburbs when traffic lights, essential to bringing some measure of control to Colombo’s notoriously congested roads, failed.
The system collapsed completely, leaving traffic police officers to direct traffic on all major roads. Although the system came back online after power was restored, subsequent cuts caused some lights to fail again.
The Road Development Authority (RDA) said it was discussing measures aimed at ensuring electricity for traffic lights from sources other than the national grid.
“One area we are currently exploring is introducing solar-powered traffic lights,” the Director of the RDA’s Highway Designs Division, Mrs. R.A.S.K. Kaluarachchi said.
“The issue though, is that the cost of such a measure is rather high as the solar panels need to be constantly maintained, but that is one idea that’s on the table.”
Until an alternative is implemented, Mrs. Kaluarachchi said, the RDA could not do much if widespread power disruptions reoccurred.
The health sector was also hit by the power stoppages although emergency services were not disrupted. The effects were felt in smaller hospitals, particularly those in rural areas.
Some of the more rural hospitals had power throughout as the power demand in these areas is low and the electricity board did not need to impose power cuts.
A doctor based at the Monaragala General Hospital, which did experience energy cuts, said the hospital generators had come into operation but they were not sufficient to supply power to the entire complex. Areas such as the Out Patient Department (OPD) suffered, with many people having to be treated in conditions of intense heat and humidity.
The Health Ministry’s Deputy Director-General of Public Health Services, Dr. Sarath Amunugama, said all hospitals above base hospital level had backup generators.
He noted that generators at major hospitals would only provide power to the most essential of services such as operation theatres, the Emergency Treatment Unit and the High Dependency Unit. All Intensive Care Units have their own backup generators.
Dr. Amunugama also said all hospitals coming under the Ministry of Health had ice-lined refrigerators for storing vaccines.
“The refrigerators are specially designed so that there are no major temperature fluctuations that could affect the vaccines stored inside,” he said. “They are also electronically monitored via computer. These can be used to store vaccines in the event power is disrupted for very long periods of time.”
Trains too experienced issues problems to the power interruptions but these were minor, Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) General Manager B.A.P. Ariyaratne said.
“All the main locations that are essential to run our railway network have backup generators. For example, our Main Control Room has backup generators while the signals controlling section has its own backup generators,” he said.
Generators were even in place at the railway yards as electricity was needed to power the fuel pumps supplying diesel to the trains, Mr. Ariyaratne explained.
“We are, anyway, prepared for power interruptions. The issues we had were mostly related to administrative work, as some offices were without electricity during the power cuts. But a few hours of power cuts will not affect the running of trains.”
In schools, Information Technology (IT) classes, or any classes that required computer usage, were cancelled, while school assemblies could not be held inside halls due to the stifling heat.
One teacher pointed out that in large schools no one could properly hear the school bell without electricity as it was generally rung over a loudspeaker.