A bridge over Kehelgamu Oya at last

A disclosure in the Kandy Times and our sister paper Lankadeepa of the failure to go ahead with the construction of a bridge over the Kehelgamu Oya in Ginigathena has eventually produced results.

Last year the Kandy Times spotlighted how a historic bridge which according to legend had helped King Nissankamalla to get access to Sri Pada, was in a neglected state and the new bridge to replace it was not being built but confined only to plaques.The neglect of this region which did not have a bridge over the Kehelgamu oya in Ginigathena which separates Horakada, Dagampitiya, Nayawala and Kelanigama villages from each other was highlighted by the Kandy Times sometime ago.

It was way back in 1979 that then Irrigation Minister Gamini Dissanayake laid the foundation stone for a bridge and it remained buried in the ground, till in 1998 Minister A.H.M.Fowzie repeated the ritual by laying another foundation stone. The hopes of the villagers have remained unfulfilled in spite of many election pledges. Then in March 2006 the neglect was again highlighted by the same newspapers.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently visited the site. Happily for the residents of the area it looked as if the attention of the Government was received when the Up Country Rural Development Authority got down to serious work. It was to see the progress that the President visited the work site last month in keeping with a promise he had made as a Presidential contender.

SLFP organiser and Provincial Councillor H.G.Ranasinghe said the President’s visit was something to be appreciated and added it gave the villagers much hope. Kelanigama welfare society president U.G.Ariyaratne shared the same sentiments while the villagers were full of praise for the Kandy Times and Lankadeepa for bringing the issue to the limelight.

The villagers say that for 50 years the construction of a bridge had only remained a broken promise and a dream. They had made representations to the then Presidential contender through a petition when he came there for a propaganda meeting during his election campaign at Ginigathena.

Peradeniya campus Dean Prof. J.B. Dissanayake and Upcountry Development Authority chairman S.M.R.D.Tennakoon visited the area with Provincial Councillor Ranasinghe and decided the work on the bridge had to begin.Initially Rs. 6.6 m. was voted for the project while presently Rs.9. 4 m. has been approved. Work has gone up to slab level. It is estimated that total costs may go up to over Rs. 8 m.