“The plain fact is that the Vihara Maha Devi Park has been neglected for many years, although it lies right opposite the Municipal Office (New Town Hall) for all the municipal councillors to see. There are reasons to doubt whether any municipal councillor or even a high municipal official has gone round the park in recent times.”______________________________
by Dr. J. B. Kelegama
(April 01, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) It is rather difficult to understand why the Colombo Municipal Council is making a big fuss over the plan of the Ministry of Urban Development to take over the Vihara Maha Devi Park temporarily in order to improve, upgrade and beautify it and then to hand it back. On the contrary, the Municipal Council should be happy that the government is shouldering its responsibility and saving it millions of rupees. Besides, the government has made the correct decision to undertake the improvements to the park which the Municipality has failed to do for years.
The plain fact is that the Vihara Maha Devi Park has been neglected for many years, although it lies right opposite the Municipal Office (New Town Hall) for all the municipal councillors to see. There are reasons to doubt whether any municipal councillor or even a high municipal official has gone round the park in recent times. It is not too late for the Mayor to walk around the park with other councillors even now. If he goes round the entire park with an observant eye, he will see for himself the deplorable condition of the park.
(i) The security service officers (from a private security agency) employed by the Municipality are conspicuous by their absence from 6.00 a.m. to about 7.00 or even 8.00 a.m. in the morning as they are sleeping in some corner at that time. On some days they sleep in the watch hut at the entrance and have to be woken up by the early walkers. Apparently there is no supervision of the security system by the Municipality.
(ii) There is no municipal official to be seen anywhere in the park when one wants to make a complaint. The security officers are employees of a private security firm and do not represent the Municipality.
(iii) There are several stray dogs (and cats) in the park at all times, threatening the safety of walkers; in fact, one lady doctor was bitten by a stray dog in the park some time back.
(iv) There is one notice in the three languages at the main entrance prohibiting cycling but not at the rear entrance at Green Path. Both entrances do not have notices prohibiting dogs. These notices were there in the past but they are not there now. It is a common sight to see people cycling across the park to take a short cut from the New Town Hall side to Green Path and some people, including foreigners bringing their dogs for walking exercise. When we tell them that bringing dogs and cycling are prohibited in the park, they argued that there are no notices to that effect to warn them and therefore they are not doing anything wrong. Some of the security officers do not appear to know that bringing dogs and cycling are disallowed and in any case, they do not make a serious attempt to stop them. Both cyclists and dogs are a threat to walkers in the park.
(v) Several outsiders come to the park to sleep in the night; they presumably enter the park through the broken part of the iron fence opposite the New Town Hall; They are found sleeping normally at the end of the paved walk on the left side of the main gate, even at 6.30 a.m.; the security officers are either not aware of them or connive at what they are doing.
(vi) A number of benches in the park are broken and they have not been repaired for years.
(vii) The children’s playground is badly neglected with most of the playthings — swings, slides, seesaws and the tortoise — broken and unusable. The children’s train has stopped running for sometime and there are two broken down railway carriages at the ‘station’; they are an eyesore and should have been removed months ago.
(viii) The toilets are padlocked even at 7.00 a.m. They are open from about 9.00 a.m. and charge a fee of Rs. 2.00 per head. In any case, they are inadequate to cope with the hundreds of schoolchildren who come almost daily from outstations to visit the museum and then the park.
(ix) The beautiful lotuses in the pond which added beauty to the park have all been removed for some unknown reason. The wooden bridge from the bank to the island has several planks missing and can pose a danger to small children.
(x) While some parts of the park are well lit, other parts are in the dark at 6.00 a.m.: presumably defective bulbs have not been replaced.
(xi) The area of the park close to the public library, used to keep temple elephants, is virtually a scrubland.
(xii) Vihara Maha Devi owes its status as a park to the old giant trees planted by the British but several of the dead and uprooted trees have not been replaced. Only the name of the park has been changed from Victoria to Vihara Maha Devi.
(xiii) No effort has been made to maintain the avenues of palm trees, ehela, and queen of the nights; vacancies in the avenues have not been filled for years. Thus, the palm tree avenues at the main gate and Green Path gate, the rows of ehela trees at the main entrance and queen of the nights at the rear entrance have many gaps which have not been filled. In fact, there are two dead palm trees near Green Path gate which might fall on someone’s head any time. One of them has been leaning dangerously for months, but no one has thought of cutting it down. Flower hedges at the Green Path gate show long gaps — result of callous neglect and indifference. Plaques commemorating the planting of trees by visiting dignitaries have all disappeared!
(xiv) There is no paved walk through the most sylvan part of the park between the open-air stadium and the closed gate on Green Path. This is the queitest, most peaceful and most beautiful part of the park under a canopy of giant trees and a paved way connecting the closed gate road and the left paved walk on the New Town Hall side would enhance the pleasure of walking in the park.
(xv) The area of the original park has shrunk a great deal as its land has been used to build the new public library, children’s carnival (Sathutu Uyana), Stadium, Road Safety Education Park of the Police, exhibition grounds and memorial statues of two politicians. What is necessary now is to enlarge the park by removing things like Sathutu Uyana, exhibition grounds, the road safety education park, etc., and relocating them, if necessary; in some other places. The park is clearly too small for the KV railway and it too should be removed.
(xvi) Vihara Maha Devi Park is home to thousands of birds such as flying foxes, crows, mynahs, cuckoos and others. Some mischievous elements have been lighting crackers close to the trees where the birds live and excited them in the last few (New Year) days. There were no security officers anywhere to catch the culprits or chase them away: the time was 6.30 a.m. and they were fast asleep!
(xvii) Vihara Maha Devi Park is a national asset which must be protected, maintained and improved, like the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens under a competent curator.
The Vihara Mahadevi Park clearly needs a face-lift. The initiative taken by the Ministry of Urban Development to undertake this task should be supported by the Colombo Municipal Council. The council’s poor record does not give any hope that it is capable of performing this task.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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