Opening the road in front of the Dalada maligawa Kandy

[UkboyTop contributor]

Personally I believe this road should open during rush hours and closed during the weekend.
Should open between 7-9am, 1.30-3.30pm & 5-7pm.

It's kind of sad & surprised to see that people are strongly against opening this road. This road was opened until the LTTE attack.

Two groups clash over opening of road in front of Temple of Tooth

A clash has broken out between two groups in Kandy over the opening of the road in front of the Temple of Tooth Relic.

According to Hiru correspondent, the groups in support of the opening of the road and those who oppose have collided with each other.

Members of several civil organizations demanded the opening of the road in front of the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy as a solution to the traffic congestion in Kandy city.
http://www.hirunews.lk/126651/two-groups-clash-over-opening-road-in-front-temple-tooth

[RanaTop contributor]

වායු දුෂණයක් ගැන කියන කතා හුදෙක් මෝඩ තර්ක.. එහම වෙනවනම් කොළඹ නගරයේ ජනතාව මෙලහකට පෙනහළු පිලිකා රෝගීන් වෙලා.

අනික ලෝක උරුමයක් සහ බොදු ජනතාවගේ අති විශේෂ වන්දනාමාන ස්ථානයක් වන දළදා මාලිගාව ඉදිරියෙන් වාහන ගමන් කිරීමෙන් එහි ඇති සිතුවම් සහ පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක වටිනාකම් වලට හානි සිදුවිය හැකිය. තවද ඝෝෂාකරිබව මාලිගාවේ කටයුතු වලට බලපෑමක් විය හැකිය.

[poor boyActive Member]

මේ මාර්ගය විවෘත කිරිමෙන් මේ වාහන තදබදය අඩු නොවේ. අප මාලිගාව පරිස්සම් කල යුතූය. කෙසේවෙතත් පාරක් එතනින් අවශ්‍යම නම් දෙන මාලිගාව අසලින් ඇති පාර cut and cover ක්රමයට උමගක් මෙන් සාදා වාහන යැවීමට අඩු වියදමින් සකස් කල හැක. කෙසේ වෙතත් මහනුවර තදබදය අඩු කිරීමට නම් ඇතුල්වන වාහන අඩු කල යුතුය .දුර ගමන් බස් සදහා නගරය්යේ මායිම්වල බස් ස්ටෑන්ඩ් හා කාර් පාර්ක් සදා ඇතුල් වන වාහන අඩු කල යුතුය. නගරයෙ පාසල් සන්කියාව අති මහත්ය. ඒවා උවමනට වැඩ්යෙන් විසාලය. පාසල් මෙසේ ඇති විසාල වීමද ප්‍රසන්යකි. නයෙන් පිට පාසල් දියුණු කර නගරය තුල පාසල් ප්‍රසරන්‍ය අඩු කල යුතුය. රෝහලද ඇති විසල කරමින් පවතී. මෙයටද සීමා පැනවිය යුතුය. නයෙන් පිට රෝහල් දියුණු කර විසේසඝඡ වය්දය පහසුකම නගරයට පිටන් ඇති රෝහල් හට දිය යුතුය. කෙසේ වෙතත් මාලිගාව අසලින් ඇති පාර විවර්ත කිරීම් සුබදායක නොවේ .

[කිත්සිරි ද සිල්වාTop contributor]

Town planners have to "think out of the box" to resolve such sensitive issues.
Further law makers should be wise enough to act on those proposals as well.
(Sadly both are lacking in this instance).

[UkboyTop contributor]

වායු  දුෂණයක්  ගැන  කියන  කතා  හුදෙක්  මෝඩ  තර්ක.. එහම  වෙනවනම්  කොළඹ  නගරයේ  ජනතාව  මෙලහකට  පෙනහළු  පිලිකා  රෝගීන් වෙලා.
.

Rana Geographically Colombo city in a better position. Most of the polluted air move away to the sea by a natural process. Due to that air pollution is quite low in Colombo.
But Kandy city is not that lucky. It's surrounded by mountain ranges. Hence polluted air has very little chance to escape.

[RanaTop contributor]

ඒ පැත්තෙන් ඔබගේ තර්කය හරි

වායු  දුෂණයක්  ගැන  කියන  කතා  හුදෙක්  මෝඩ  තර්ක.. එහම  වෙනවනම්  කොළඹ  නගරයේ  ජනතාව  මෙලහකට  පෙනහළු  පිලිකා  රෝගීන් වෙලා.
.

Rana Geographically Colombo city in a better position. Most of the polluted air move away to the sea by a natural process. Due to that air pollution is quite low in Colombo.
But Kandy city is not that lucky. It's surrounded by mountain ranges. Hence polluted air has very little chance to escape.

[UkboyTop contributor]

This road was opened until 1998. Why all of a sudden we all want to close this road forever?

[slstockVeteran]

Yes,

1)
This was not an issue before ( to have it opened).
It shut down due to security issues as I know during war times.

During certain periods ( maybe during the war or cease fire) , I think the road was opened during peak hours or something as an alterative ( but there were no protest by anyone and people enjoyed the freedom )

Suddenly reopening it has become a big problem now I see.


2)

I knew of people who lived few 100 meter to 1 mile behind maligawa who had to go right around the lake ( maybe 3 miles) and was inconveninced a lot. ( transportation fares also increased )

Part of congestion problems and pollution could be due to excessive de-routing and traffic jams delays due to this very fact.



3)

Would Lord Buddha have wanted the so may public inconvenienced ?


4)

I think if some parties have any "genuine" concern/argument to open, come up with an alternative solution or viable plan and not inconvience 100000s of people effected . ( earlier there was talk about bridge over the kandy lake even.. but such was far fetched idea .. come up with a simpler solution )

The benefit of the war ending apparently has not come to many Kandy people.


Being religious and being concerned about safety is good.
But being democratic and reasonable is also a must when it affects 100000 of lives.

Think rationally everyone. ( I mean everyone who reads)

This road was opened until 1998. Why all of a sudden we all want to close this road forever?

[poor boyActive Member]

this is not old kandy. traffic growth is unimaginable.we cant compare with old days because traffic situation is completely different . if this road is opened there will be huge traffic clog during day time around the maaligawa and it will be huge problem to pilgrims and tourists. problem is not not opening , real problem is authorities not doing any thing to open a new road, if the existing maaligawa road is cut and cover with concrete to make a underground road problem is solved and it will be acceptable to every body. this project will not cost much. start the entry near the Georg dE silva Park and end just after the maaligawa .Full strecth is less than one killometer.

[slstockVeteran]

So your main concern is traffic clog near Maligawa?

You solution underground road? Probably close to the previous Bridge solution ( which has many objections) .

Practical issues I see :
a) There is a lake near by. There will be some civil engineering concerns
b) there are some historic tunnels existing if I recall near that area ( to be chekced).

Digging a new tunnel may have practical and historical issues

c) ofcourse the city will pull no money or the spending more issue

d) EVen if it goes under groud the only way I see it helps vs above ground is people not seeing it and pilgrims being not disturbed. Once you get inside Maligawa , does the sound bother the pilgrims? Last time I went there it was not problem.


Using existing resources one option


Options 1:
a) Open the road for light vehicles / school vans atleast during peak hours
b) send heavy vehicles around lake

Will solve part of the big issues
a) make the protestors about security etc reduced
b) make other happy

people need to compromise .

New road creation ( unless underground) to pass through middle of the city has no other option due to landscape issues

this is not old kandy. traffic growth is unimaginable.we cant compare with old days because traffic situation is completely different . if this road is opened there will be huge traffic clog during day time around the maaligawa and it will be huge problem to pilgrims and tourists. problem is not not opening , real problem is authorities not doing any thing to open a new road, if the existing maaligawa road is cut and cover with concrete to make a underground road problem is solved and it will be acceptable to every body. this project will not cost much. start the entry near the Georg dE silva Park and end just after the maaligawa .Full strecth is less than one killometer.

[poor boyActive Member]

There is no big civil engineering challenge in this type of project.similar concerns were raised during city centre project and car park project but those were nicely engineered.but i would say even opening of this road under ground or on the ground is not a solution for the existing traffic problem.

[RanaTop contributor]

digging a tunnel in a historical area will be a disaster.Because who knows what type of disasters you meet there(there may be a water tunnel between soil layers). tunnel create instability to the base of the temple tooth and building around the area.

[slstockVeteran]

1)
"There is no big civil engineering challenge in this type of project."

You sure? Hope you saw the 2 specific reasons given regarding the underground tunnel
( which is different to other examples you mentioned) .



2) The main concern is not to harass the public and school children who live on other side of Maligawa.

This was closed due to secutiry issue. That reason is not fair or reasonable anymore.


3)
" i would say even opening of this road under ground or on the ground is not a solution for the existing traffic problem. "

Well if traffic is the issue other solution to improve

a) within the city limits public transport
b) new road proposals
c) diversions for specific vehicle types ( heavy vehicles etc)

can be discussed further



Who knows if viable ( fair) solutions come up , I/we might be able to send some of them to someone

There is no big civil engineering challenge in this type of project.similar concerns were raised during city centre project and car park project but those were nicely engineered.but i would say even opening of this road under ground or on the ground is not a solution for the existing traffic problem.

[pirate]

Development of Kandy city has a lot to do with Maligawa. Kandy is a trip attracting place and the citizens' lives have an impact from it. Therefore it is crucial develop a city sustaining its historic value.

There is an ongoing project to develop the Kandy city and proposals are to implemented from this June,2016 onward.

Building a bridge or few bridges would ease the congestion, but that is not the way to develop a city.

Since a study is going on with how to address these issues, there is a good chance to ease the congestion without opening the that road. (In fact the studies have found a lot on relieving the congestion.)

If anyone interested, I will share some readings on this matter.

[poor boyActive Member]

Development of Kandy city has a lot to do with Maligawa. Kandy is a trip attracting place and the citizens' lives have an impact from it. Therefore it is crucial develop a city sustaining its historic value.

There is an ongoing project to develop the Kandy city and proposals are to implemented from this June,2016 onward.

Building a bridge or few bridges would ease the congestion, but that is not the way to develop a city.

Since a study is going on with how to address these issues, there is a good chance to ease the congestion without opening the that road. (In fact the studies have found a lot on relieving the congestion.)

If anyone interested, I will share some readings on this matter.

pls share

[pirate]

This is the study that has been conducted in 2014.
https://kumarage.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/2014-s-11-ut-kandy-transport-scdp.pdf

Current study is a validation of the previous study plus few international consultant teams giving international expertise.

[poor boyActive Member]

thank you pirate.

[HUNTERTop contributor]

හොඳම වැඩේ තමයි මාළිගාව වෙන කොහෙ හරි (ට්‍රැෆික් නැති තැනකට) අරන් යන එක.

[UkboyTop contributor]

What I think is that Make a new road can take long times. So Short term they should at least open this road during peak hours.
Kandy city is not on a stable platform. It would be very challenging to build a tunnel.

[Hawk Eye]

The door is there, and the key is in your hands

If we can really understand the problem, The answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem - J.Krishnamurthy

If its a Hindu Kovil or Muslim Mosque how we would have handled it ?

My mind as a Buddhist blocks to think of anything other than preserving and maintaining the sacred beautiful place.

[poor boyActive Member]

The door is there, and the key is in your hands  

If we can really understand the problem, The answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem  - J.Krishnamurthy

If its a Hindu Kovil or Muslim Mosque how we would have handled it ?

My mind as a Buddhist blocks to think of anything other than preserving and maintaining the sacred beautiful place.  

Yes we must preserve this treasure. This is not only a shrine for Buddhist it is a cultural treasure that attract millions of sri lankan and foreign tourists .even if this road opened the traffic will clog at the Kandy nursing home junction where two traffic flows meet and it will cause blockage of maligaawa road. if you read above study posted by Pirate , you can understand the real problem. the proposal suggests Car park at kandy nursing Hospital junction and satellite bus stand near thannekumbura. If we need a real solution to the problem we must force authorities to implement these proposal.

[Hawk Eye]

Our religious thoughts freezes our mind to think right way sometimes.

The door is there, and the key is in (y)our hands- Jidhu Krishnamoorthy

The population of Kandy is very small. And the vehicle inflow is very high.

.....This is not only a shrine for Buddhist it is a cultural treasure that attract millions of sri lankan and foreign tourists...........

And the doc that Pirate shared states... The use of Bicycles is zero%

[pirate]

It's all about the culture. I heard Jaffna is going to be developed as a Bicycle friendly city. I guess bicycle is not posh enough to Kandy and Colombo people.

And the doc that Pirate shared states... The use of Bicycles is zero%

[UkboyTop contributor]

It's all about the culture. I heard Jaffna is going to be developed as a Bicycle friendly city. I guess bicycle is not posh enough to Kandy and Colombo people.  

And the doc that Pirate shared states... The use of Bicycles is zero%

On the other hand I think it would be difficult to use bicycles in a city like Kandy. I wouldn't cycle to places like Heerassagala, Bahirawakanda or towards Hantana.

[RanaTop contributor]

we can use tram service.