Dr. D.J. Wimalasurendra who was born on 17th September 1874 is best remembered for the Laxapana hydro power station which was built and later named after him as the Wimalasurendra power station. He was educated at Ananda College, Colombo and worked as an Engineer and a state reporter in Nuwara Eliya. Devapura Jayasena Wimalasurendra joined the Public Works Department in 1896 as a field overseer and then as an inspector. He also worked in building a concentration camp in Diyatalawa in 1901. He was appointed chief engineer of the Northern Bridge power plant in Nuwara Eliya in 1926. He is well known now as the father of hydro power in Sri Lanka. If it were not for him, Sri Lanka would still be in darkness.
Dinithi Jayasundara,
Grade 10 B,
Good Shepherd Convent,
Kandy.