Off track in Hill Country

THIS cursory missive is prompted by the painfully comical sight of our Deputy Minister of Tourism performing something comparable to a 'Baila Jig' with a group of foreign tourists celebrating the restoration of a minuscule part of the hill country railway tracks severely damaged in the recent disaster.

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If the Nine Arch Bridge and the Demodara loop are tourist attractions and the many breathtakingly picturesque bungalows built by British pioneering planters are to be filled with high spending tourists, we should invite the private sector to consider investing in cogwheel train technology specifically intended for mountainous regions. Because there is no guarantee that Cyclonic storms will not occur again

The question we must ask today is should we restore the hill country train track at all? If so, at what cost and who should pay for it.

First, we must come to terms with the magnitude of the problem. If we do that our Ministers will not do Balila Jigs in the recovery process.

Dr. Lakshman Galagedara, a professor of hydrology at the Grenfell Campus of Memorial University, has provided significant analysis on the hydrological impact of Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka, focusing on the sheer volume of rainfall and the subsequent surface runoff that led to massive flooding.