Big stench of Little England

By Tharuka Dissanaike

The weather was unusual for Nuwara Eliya in February. By 8.00 clock the misty coolness of the morning dissipated and was replaced by bright sunshine. As sweater clad children trooped to school, the town stirred awake. Later the harsh noon day sun shone down on farmers tending to their vegetable plots, boys offering pony rides, flower vendors with baskets of lilies and on the forested mountain slopes of Pidurutalagala. But Nuwara Eliya today is far from the idyllic holiday spot of yore. It is a clutter of unplanned construction, pollution and bears all the signs of ill administration.

In this small town, pot-holed roads, broken drains and rotting vegetable garbage are all problems the folk have learned to live with. When the rainy season comes, and the dust and dirt of the dry spell becomes muddy slush gushing down hilly roads for the lack of proper drainage, the residents probably shrug and look heavenward for answers. They know all too well that successive Municipal Councils have done precious little to keep the town to its reputation of "Little England."

Hoteliers and Guest House owners regularly tear their hair out in despair at the state of the town.

Not a uncommon sight anymore


Most say that the situation has only deteriorated throughout the years and now as the much talked about April season approaches they predict that the city will not be ready for the large influx of visitors that come into Nuwara Eliya.

The main cause of their agitation has become the new municipal waste dump which is on prime land between the race course and Lake Gregory.

Waste from household to industrial to agricultural are all dumped and burnt in one corner of the municipal playground and the fumes constantly reach a number of guest houses situated on the Badulla Road. Its situation obstructs the view of the Lake for most other guest houses.

Coming upon Kovil Road, on the route to Kandapola cluttered development is obvious by the number of shanty dwellings that dot the hillside.

When we inquired about the terrible stink in a drain that flows through this area, a resident said, "It's the waste water from a factory."

On the Post Office Road, dogs scavenging early morning garbage and littered pavements force pedestrians to take to the road, braving school traffic and errant cyclists.

Hoteliers fear problems with water supply as the season progresses. "Every year there are problems just when the bookings are heavy," Resident Manager, Grand Hotel, Raju Veerasingham said.

Hoteliers say that guests complain of the lack of cleanliness in the city. They find it difficult to go for walks as the roads are dusty, even the park is unkempt and the Lake is hardly picturesque. Silting and weed growth covers a good part of the Lake and its water appears dark and discoloured.

Nuwara Eliya is an eye sore. What is being done about it?

The Municipal Council had a change of guard last year.

But in the experience of most residents and travellers to Nuwara Eliya, the conditions have not improved.

Councillors defend themselves and say that there are a number of projects in the offing to transform the town back into the tourist attraction it once was.

"After we came there is no garbage on the streets," Deputy Mayor Nehru Jee said.

He said that Municipal garbage dump will soon be relocated to Meepilimana in Pattipola where already a site is being prepared, in a Forest Department Reserve. They promise to have the present garbage pile cleared out before the season.

"Here garbage will be sorted and recycled by a private company."

They said that moving the dump to the playground was inevitable because the earlier dumping ground polluted a waterway which irrigated fields in the Uva Province.

Nehru Jee said that the Council had large plans for the city and is discussing with foreign donors to obtain soft loans for the improvement of water supply, drainage and road improvement. The Japanese government is conducting feasibility studies on the improvement of water supply to Nuwara Eliya town.

Embassy sources said that these studies will take at least one year more.

The Municipal Council has set aside Rs. 1 million for the improvement of the road network."

About 70 percent of the roads will be rehabilitated under this scheme," Nehru Jee said, but declined to put a deadline on the project. The Upper Lake Road right upto Mahagastota is to be repaired at a cost of Rs. 310, 000.

The Municipality is planning on building an indoor stadium in Nuwara Eliya for the entertainment of tourists.

There is also a large scale project to move the Municipal marketplace to Hava Eliya. With funding from the World Bank, the Nuwara Eliya vegetable market will find a new location and lorries transporting produce will not spoil the town's idyllic beauty.

Ambitious plans, no doubt. But when will they be implemented and how successfully? That is the question that plagues the minds of residents of and visitors to Nuwara Eliya as the season approaches and hotels are already booking in guests for April.

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