'Bridge on the River Kwai' to be blown up?

The residents of the Kalubothenna area had organized a protest yesterday to object on the explosions of the bridge where the film “The Bridge on the River Kwai” was shot in 1957 with the large rock near it.

The residents said the bridge and the rock would be exploded because of a private hydro-power plant which comes under the Broadlands hydro-power project. This hydro-power plant is situated beneath the Polpitiya hydro-power plant crossing the Kelani river, aiming to produce 150 megawatts of electricity supply.

“We will face lots of issues if this bridge and the river was exploded. One of the main livelihoods of the Kitulgala area, the white-water rafting, will come to standstill if this were to happen. There are around 40 white-water rafting centres in this area. All those centres will have to meet with a water shortage issue if they explode this bridge and the rock. Due to this the tourist industry will also be at a risk,” said the treasurer of the White-water Rafting Association Upul Nayanajith.

“Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has promised us to offer the necessary water if they go ahead with this exploding. But we do not think he would keep up to his words. So we would like to request the Minister to offer us a written document, including the ministry’s guarantee to offer the necessary water to carry out the white-water rafting in this area, if they are going ahead with these explosions,” said Mr. Nayanajith.

When the Daily Mirror inquired about this issue from the Power and Renewable Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya he said that he would be drawing up an agreement with the white-water rafting associations and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) in the near future. Further he said that they have made arrangements to construct a separate mini hydro-power plant to produce water for the white-water rafting sport.

“The Broadlands hydro-power project comes as the third step of the Laxapana hydro-power plant project. Therefore I would like to say that this is not a sudden step taken by our ministry. This project has been brought out with a proper system to protect the white-water rafting sport and the tourism. The explosion which had been made yesterday was just a test blast. I ensure that there would not be any kind of harm to the livelihoods of the residents of this area nor to the environment,” the minister said. (Kalathma Jayawardhane and Ranjith Rajapakse)