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| Sunday, 10 July 2005 |
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Power shortages for Colombo? : High-rise and inner city development by Dhammika Dharmawardhane, Communication Analyst, National Council for Economic Development Has all the development in and around Colombo led to over capacity and disability to meet the demand for electricity? Is this leading to constant power failures in Colombo? While being quite satisfactory drivers for the economy, were all the high-rises and development projects in Colombo sucking up all the electricity to power them leaving us hapless urbanites in the dark? I decided that a good place to start would be my now favourite place to visit in Colombo, our commercial bastion, the 'Maha Bankuwa'. I gained entrance to the Foreign Aid and Budget Monitoring Unit of the Ministry of Finance and Planning; this time quite swiftly as I had now perfected this art. For those of you who missed the article, I previously visited the same in my brief investigations on the human wastage/sewage in the new and splendid high rises springing in and around the city of Colombo and where it finally rests. I then went on to highlight my latest concern on the state of the supply of electricity in the city of Colombo and its suburbs. Rest assured, headed by Project Director, Dr. Susantha Perera, a gracious but a more than little overly technical gentleman, there is a Greater Colombo Substation Project well on its way to ensure sufficient and proper supply of electricity to Colombo and its suburbs. Especially South Colombo, the areas of Maradana, Dehiwala, Havelock Town and Sri Jayewardenepura. Growing demand Visiting Dr. Perera's project office the total scenario was properly explained to me in detail. Fellow urbanites, an old underground line system serves to supply electricity to Colombo City and even older overhead lines provide electricity supply to Colombo's fast-growing southern suburbs such as Dehiwala and Sri Jayewardenepura. As consumption has grown rapidly with development of infrastructure and economic activity, the current system cannot meet the growing demand. Limited capacity means that major consumer needs cannot be met. Large would be income generating projects use their own generators to supply power to their buildings leading in a substantial loss of revenue to the CEB. Capacity limitations, reliability of supply and improper distribution have resulted in mere mortals suffering frequent interruptions to electricity resulting in of course common dilemmas like PCs crashing, important functions such as dinners for close friends being conducted in intimate candlelight, being stuck in elevators however briefly etc., etc., due to an old, unreliable and risky system that supplies us with electricity. New substations However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The Greater Colombo Substation Project was started in early 2004 and is expected to be fully operational by January 2006. Another fitting excuse for all of us to celebrate the coming New Year with joyful abandon. The Kollonnawa main distribution station will supply electricity through new underground lines laid to lead to new substations in Maradana, Dehiwala, Havelock Town and Sri Jayewardenepura. The CEB will have new income generating business opportunities, the private sector can benefit from obtaining power through the CEB instead of running costly operations on generators, the environment will benefit minus the diesel smoke and fumes and Colombo's elite can retire to their beds every night in air-conditioned comfort. Most importantly Sri Lanka's economy will continue to be fuelled through its main capital city of Colombo and our economy will flourish. All this through a grant from the German government through its lending arm KfW to the tune of 42 million Euros and a CEB contribution of Rs 1,300 million, all totalling to a staggering 5.5 billion Sri Lanka rupees. The writer has over 13 years' experience in communication and strategic
planning with J Walter Thompson, Ogilvy and Mather, Lowe Worldwide, McCann
Erickson and a government agency. He has lived and worked in Sri Lanka and
USA. |
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