Young and dynamic Dr. Amal S. Kumarage is a man brimming with ideas. He was instrumental in the installation of locally manufactured traffic lights at Moratuwa. Brian Elias spoke to Dr. Kumarage for his views on new innovations to the country's outmoded traffic system. Dr. Kumarage is a transportation engineer and senior lecturer at the Transportation Engineering Division, Dept. of Civil Engineering of the University of Moratuwa. Here are excerpts from the interview.
I was very anxious to meet the inventor of this locally manufactured traffic lights system at the Moratuwa junction on the way to Panadura.
How did the idea of the project come about?
It all started about three years ago when one of our undergraduates was run over by a lorry and died at the famous or infamous "Curusa Junction" at Moratuwa. Ironically he had attended University for just one day before this tragedy befell him. We looked at the plans of the junction and found that due to various reasons no further improvement could be made except for signalisation. On inquiry we found that to get an imported system would cost in the region of approximately Rs. 3 million and the cost was questioned as to whether that was affordable vis-a-vis other expenditure for the Highway Authorities. At that point I tried to get a team together to see whether we could come up with a locally manufactured product.
Did you embark on this operation in the National interest or as a profitable venture to the University?
It was more as a research oriented project particularly to try to see whether these almost prohibitively priced imports could be manufactured at a lower cost by the local industry, so that if we could do that, then more signals could be installed at junctions which would in turn be a greater safety to road users as result in well as other benefits like easing out traffic flows. We did not embark on it as a manufacturing process but more as a research process.
Could you state the team effort that went into this project?
Yes, perhaps that is the most outstanding feature. The team comprised individuals from various categories - like myself being the Transportation Engineer together with Dr. Saman Bandara from the Civil Engineering Technology Dept., who brought in his highway and traffic experience, Dr. Kapila Jayasinghe from electronics, Mr. Pushpakumara, a Mechanical Engineer from the Road Construction and Development Company, a subsidiary of the Road Development Authority. These different disciplines were brought together in studying and researching the necessities.
This is a great achievement because I can see that this is the type of joint action that is required to help us in so many other ways including traffic. Now in most parts of the world, signal lights keep a steady flow of traffic and also controls it effectively. Do you feel that we should have more traffic lights right round the island?
For signalising a junction we have what is known as warrants - that is one or more conditions have to be satisfied and very often they are dependent on the safety record or accident incidence at that junction as well as the flow of traffic. Most junctions when they exceed a certain level of traffic flow or when accidents occur need to be signalised or the use of some other form of traffic control introduced. When the flow exceeds beyond what a roundabout can handle we should think of signalising it. If we go on that basis there are a number of intersections in Sri Lanka where these conditions have been met and which have not been hitherto signalised mainly due to the prohibitive costs.
What has been the official reaction to your efforts both from Government as well as from the University?
We have had excellent co-operation particularly from the Ministry of Highways and the Road Development Authority. Actually we embarked on the research which was funded by a subsidiary of the RDA - they have been on this project from the beginning and after the successful installation that Company is now in the process of jointly developing this system for the local market as well as for export.
In comparison to the cost of the imported product what is the difference between the manufactured product and the imported one?
There are two aspects to that. One can always produce a cheaper product with lower quality but we were very keen on producing a product of higher quality. In that sense we have improved most of the features in the present signals on the market which are particularly needed for the local context. Particularly with respect to power failures, changing patterns of traffic flow, the kind of holiday patterns we have and the requirements for police. Inspite of the superiority of the product we have been able to manufacture it. We should be able to market the product for about Rs. 600,000/= which would be about 20% of the cost of importation.
Any prospects of more orders for your innovation from the Government?
Yes, the Company RC&DC have been requested by the RDA to install signals around 10 different locations and we are helping them to install them. About 6 or 10 units have been manufactured. Within the next 3 to 4 months we will have about 10 signalised intersections in and around Colombo.
Congratulations on your efforts and what about the future?
The future is quite open in the sense that there are a lot of problems in the traffic sector which can have solutions such as these. I am not speaking only about installing traffic signals. As I mentioned earlier there are a number of junctions which have to be signalised. What is of significant importance is that of pedestrian crossings. On 3rd December 1996 it was the International Day of the Disabled and we helped the Ministry of Highways to install a pedestrian signal for the Disabled at Seeduwa.They had had one or two fatalities on the main Negombo road during the last two years. We installed a card activated signalised crossing for the use of the disabled as well as a push button type which can be used by others. Similarly we have received a request from the University of Kelaniya for a pedestrian activated crossing system. We are working on this system at present. We are also thinking of how to signalise round-abouts so that they can work as round-abouts as well as signalised intersections since there are some intersections which will not work efficiently either as round- abouts or as signal junctions. Theoretically we have found that signalised round-abouts will function better than either one of these. The Dehiwela round-about and the Nugegoda round-about are two possible places where we hope to try out on an experimental basis. Foreign countries are using electronic means of managing traffic-like changeable message signs for motorists to respond to different routings by controlling different roads, detection systems both for the volume and speed of traffic in assisting the police in controlling speed and other enforcement capabilities.
One of the few things I would like to work on over the next few years is to bring in this technology into the local industry and make these technologies available for the benefit of road users. This would take maybe 5 to 10 years and if we can do that I feel we will be right upto world technology levels. Signals have been around for many years. It is not a new technology. Therefore it is not an innovation. I would call myself an innovator. There are a number of well established technologies which we cannot purchase and therefore not available to Sri Lanka. If we can have them manufactured locally, I think we will be passing on a lot of benefits to the road users.
It is noteworthy that there are Professionals like you who have taken an interest in this type of area which is a topic of the day. Should't people like you be given an opportunity to serve in the National Transport Commission and the Commission should be widened to go into all these details?
The scope of the National Transport Commission is only as a regulating mechanism for Inter Provincial Bus Transport. Therefore it is limited by virtue of its Act. At the moment we do not have any one single authority to manage or control traffic as for example in the Western Province. The Ministry of Highways is attempting to establish a mechanism whereby there is a group of people who will respond to various traffic related and management of traffic problems. It is a task that cannot be handled entirely by the Police. This is because there are engineering problems, traffic circulation problems, transport planning problems and urban planning problems which will contribute towards traffic congestion. One of the things which I am trying to develop is perhaps some kind of body which will be competent and also empowered to respond to problems with our transport and highway sector.
I am glad you think that way because in fact in the last issue of Wheels in The Sunday Times we called for the setting up of an entirely separate Traffic Department.
The authorities should seriously go into this matter.
From the Colonial days we have had many accidents at unprotected railway crossings. This problem has never been solved. Do you have any particular ideas regarding this very important matter?
Once again I am emotionally involved in this issue because on the 1st of December 1996 we had an unfortunate incident where a Senior Director of the Road Development Authority who was also a Postgraduate student of mine died at a level crossing in Ambalangoda. Due to this I am drawn into seeing that some kind of protection should be provided to the road users at unprotected railway cross-ings.Together with the Ministry of Highways and the RDA we are discussing with the railway authorities how we can install locally manufactured signals, maybe an indicator or maybe a light and a bell indicator at unprotected crossings. I am told that to import such a system it would cost in excess of Rs. I million and that is the reason why the railway has not been able to afford that level of safety at these railway crossings. We are trying to see how this can be done at an obviously cheaper price so that more of these unprotected crossings can be signalised. It may not be necessary only for the railway to carry out this project but even the local authorities or road authorities would find it affordable to install and maybe give it to the railways to maintain.
The "Sivendran Twins" Sharmila and Sashikala who
are studying Bio
Chemistry at the Millersville University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. along with
their elder sister Renuka who too is doing her Honours in Bio Chemistry in the
same University have succeeded in a research on "Hemoglobin/Cyanohemoglobin
Electron Transfer Reactions."
Presently Renuka Sivendran and Sashikala Sivendran are working as Interns for Dupont Chemicals, Deepwater, New Jersey through Millersville University's Cooperative Education Programme.
The Sivendran sisters are daughters of S. Sivendran, Senior Superintendent of Police, Police Headquarters, Colombo 1 and Ms. Ananthalakshmi Sivendran.They are past pupils of St. Bridget's Convent.
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