The historic city of Kandy was gaining a notorious reputation for being the most polluted urban centre of the country. In such a backdrop the youth of Kandy backed by other organisations took to the streets to try and change the appearance of the city. The Surakimu Sri Lanka organisation joined hands with the Kandy Municipal Council to conduct a Kandy city beautification program on January 20, 2019.
The program was conducted at a number of important landmarks in and around Kandy city which included the Kandy railway station, railway line, goods shed bus stand, Kandy market side walls of the Katugastota road, Wace park and Kuruluuyana.
Under the program all the garbage which was littered around the city was collected and all the places mentioned were washed and cleaned by the volunteers with the help of Kandy Municipal Council workers. In addition the side walls of the Katugastota road were cleaned by removing all the posters. The Kandy Municipal Council lent their workers, lorries, water bowsers and water spray machines for the Kandy clean up effort. The leadership for the project was given by the Kandy Municipal Council and Surakimu Sri Lanka organisation. A call for volunteers made through social media gained an unparalleled response from the youth in Kandy, which resulted in hundreds of youth taking part in the cleanup of Kandy.
“Surakimu Sri Lanka organisation invited youth who like to join hands in the process of creating a beautiful Kandy city. Many youths joined the program through Facebook public pages specially dedicated to the beautification of the city of Kandy. Kandy Municipal council also lent complete support and resources to make the program a success. The Mayor of the Kandy Municipal Council Kesara Senanayake, Deputy Mayor of the Kandy Municipal Council Ilahi Abdeen, Commissioner of the Kandy Municipal Council Chandana Tennakoon and all the members of the Municipal Council joined hands with the program to make the Kandy cleanup effort a success” said Lalantha Sanjeewa Pieris, Kandy Municipal Council member and Kandy Municipal Council Environment and Solid Waste Committee Chairman.
The second stage of the Kandy clean-up project was held last week where Katugastota town, Kandy to Katugastota road, old and new Peradeniya roads and the Kandy Lake round wascompletely cleaned. In addition, plans are implemented by Hon. Lakshman Kiriella, Minister of Public Enterprise, Kandyan Heritage and Kandy Development to develop the pavements and traffic islands of the Kandy to Peradeniya road and Kandy to Katugastota road with the help of the National Savings Bank.
Lalantha Pieris the Municipal Council member clarified about the programs which are implemented to keep the Kandy city clean. Currently, Municipal Councilis in the process of taking legal action against people who litter in public places in order to keep the city clean. The Municipal Council plans to monitor the Kandy city to prevent pasting of posters and action will be taken according to the law against people who paste posters inside the Kandy city limits. The Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the Commissioner of the Municipal Council will be monitoring the cleanliness standard of Kandy and will use more people to keep the city clean daily while continuing the beautification project of Kandy in the future.
He explained about the current and future projects initiated by the Kandy Municipal Council. “The current Municipal Council launched the Environmentand Solid Waste committee.
The tree planting project in Kandy town was done under the vision and advice of the Environment and Solid Waste Committee. Under the project trees are planted along the pavements of Kandy town. Three hundred and twenty three trees have been planted under the project which has been vital in reducing air pollution in the Kandy city. The trees planted under the project are karada, mee and kohomba which adds to the natural beauty and environmental sustainability since trees take in carbon dioxide and provide oxygen for the environment.
The Kandy Municipal Council is planning to plant more trees in the future to significantly reduce the air pollution in the area and to achieve the final goal of making Kandy a green city” said the Municipal Council member Lalantha Pieris.
A multi action plan has been proposed for the development of the Kandy city and the surrounding areas. An eco friendly plan has been initiated to provide a solution for the Guhagoda waste dump by the Central Province Govenor Maithree Gunaratne and Mayor Kesara Senanayake. Currently several methods and mechanisms are in place to maintain the garbage dump and to reduce the spread of a bad odour while treatment plants are fixed to dispose the garbage. In the future the Kandy Municipal Council expects to fix machines at the garbage dump which will produce gas and electricity through the recycling of garbage. Wace Park will be developed as a natural garden which can be enjoyed by the public along with the construction of a beautiful waterfall near the Wace park junction.
In addition, two big gardens will be built on top of the Kandy city public car park while another garden will be created in George E de Silva Park.
