Kachchativu festival a good opportunity to build harmony, says Navy Commander

The annual two day St. Antony’s festival on the island of Kachchativu, that brings together pilgrims, mainly from the fisher communities of both India and Sri Lanka, drew to a close last Sunday.

Jaffna’s Vicar General Justin Gnanapragasam conducted holy mass at St Antony’s church.

“We believe that our saint listens to our prayers and conveys them to God. That’s why we came here,’’ said Jesurasa a fisherman from Rameshwaram who was attending the festival with his family.The feast attracted not only pilgrims but also business vendors from both countries, although Indian authorities had warned Indian fisherfolk to refrain from engaging in trade this year. Vendors were seen selling items varying from fancy goods to fabrics and trading in both local and Indian currency in makeshift stalls that lined the path to the Church.

Some pilgrims had brought cooked food while others were seen preparing their meals.

Sri Lanka Navy Commander Vice Admiral Jayantha Colombage commenting on the occasion said that the festival was a bridge of friendship between the people of India and Sri Lanka. “They worship together without any differences. This is a good opportunity to build on mutual trust and understanding,” he said.

“The Sri Lanka Navy has been hosting this festival since the end of the war and this year we worked together with the Army to provide drinking water, electricity and sanitary facilities to the devotees,” the Navy Commander added.

Father James, a parish priest who represented the Indian delegation said 125 priests and 75 nuns participated in the feast. 

Source:http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140323/news/kachchativu-festival-a-good-opportunity-to-build-harmony-says-navy-commander-90173.html

Annual Katchatheevu feast begins today

The Annual Katchatheevu feast will begin today (Saturday) with the participation of a large number of devotees from India and Sri Lanka. The shores of Katchatheevu islet on the Palk Strait will be opened for Indian Fishermen enabling them to attend the three-day St Antony’s Church festival.

The Sri Lanka Navy has made provisions for the required facilities and security for devotees attending the event. Accommodation, sanitary facilities and drinking water will also be provided by the Sri Lanka Navy. Life saving and medical teams are also expected to be deployed of the benefit for the devotees arriving on the island.

Last year feast saw 2,814 devotees arrived from India, who came in 100 boats, and 2,381 Sri Lankan devotees in 208 boats to attend the St Antony’s Church festivities.  St Antony’s Catholic Shrine on the island was built by an Indian Catholic called Srinivasa Padaiyachi and named after St Antony, patron-saint of seafarers, to whom the feast is dedicated

- See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/news-online/item/27027-annual-katchatheevu-feast-begins-today-navy-provides-necessary-facilities-to-pilgrims.html#sthash.z9xw093u.dpuf

Train service to Jaffna on Sri Lanka's northern track to commence in April

People in the south will once again be able to travel to Jaffna by train, the General Manager of Sri Lanka Railways B.A.P Ariyaratne has said.

Reconstruction of the Northern Railway Line to Kankasanthurai in Jaffna peninsula will be completed by April this year and the service will resume by the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, the official told the state-run radio.

The 146-km long track with a design speed of 120km/h was constructed in two phases - from Omanthai to Pallai and Pallai to Kankasanthurai.

The 63-km long first segment of the reconstructed railway track from Omanthai to Kilinochchi was opened for train traffic in September 2013.

The train service on the next segment of 40 km from Kilinochchi to Pallai is scheduled to commence from the first week of February allowing the train service to operate from Colombo to Pallai.

Sri Lanka Railways also completed the reconstruction of first 43 km section of the Thalaimannar Line from Medawchchiya to Madhu Road. The next 65 km section from Madhu to Thalaimannar is also scheduled to be completed soon and the train service will commence before April, the official said.

Ariyaratne said the northern track will be used for the transportation of fuel and the Railway Department hopes to import several more power sets and compartments.

The Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON) is carrying out the construction work of both projects which is being financed under a US$ 425 million credit facility from India.

Sri Lanka's Northern Line from Vavuniya to Kankasanthurai in the northernmost tip of the island was completely destroyed by the Tamil Tiger terrorists during the three-decade long war. The rebels uprooted the rail tracks to build reinforced underground bunkers.

Source:http://www.colombopage.com/archive_14A/Jan11_1389424541CH.php

We need to move forward and rebuild the North - Jaffna University VC

Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) C.V. Wineswaran had to take a dose of his own medicine at the National conference on Post-terrorism Socio-Economic Development of the Northern and the Eastern Provinces organised by the University Grants Commission under the patronage of its Chairperson Prof. Kshanika Hiriburegama at Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo on Thursday.

Vice Chancellors of the University of Jaffna and the Eastern University countered baseless allegations made by the NPC Chief Minister who was the chief guest at the conference. Wigneswaran said the powers vested with the NPC was inadequate, the Northern province has not been developed after the end of terrorism, inadequate living standards of the people and the presence of the Security Forces. Vice Chancellor, Jaffna University Prof Vasanthy Arasaratnam and the Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University Dr. K. Kobindarajah shot down wild allegations made by Chief Minister Wigneswaran with statistical and research data.

The findings of the two Vice Chancellors is a setback for Wingeswaran as the two eminent academics have been with the people in the North and the East and have first-hand experience on the situation whereas Wigneswaran, living in Colombo 7, is a political parachute.

Jaffna University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Arasaratnam spoke at length about her personal experience and said that when infrastructure development is taking place, they should move forward. We as academics will give our fullest collaboration in livelihood development of the Northern people,” she said adding that she and the people in the North had suffered enough due to LTTE terrorism. We need to move forward, try to forget the past and rebuild the North, like I have rebuilt my home that was destroyed due to terrorism,she said.

Eastern University Vice Chancellor Dr. Kobindarajah suggested forming a committee of academics to work with President Mahinda Rajapaksa with the support of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). All parties concerned should address the real cause and genuinely work hard.

I firmly believe that if you work with an open heart we could definitely sort out whatever the problems we have. We as the academics are ready to play a key role to promote ethnic harmony and reconciliation,he said.

Source:http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2014/02/16/new05.asp

Northern Line gets ready for Yal Devi

If there was a symbol to represent the strong bonds of friendship between the Southern people and the Northern people of Sri Lanka, it was the Yal Devi train. Therefore, it is the Yal Devi train that gets affected first if there are strained relations between the North and the South and the incidents during the three-decades-long terrorism proved this fact beyond any doubt.

Work at the site

In the same way, restoration of that broken down train service between the North and the South is one of the first things, the people in the North or the South, would embark on once the differences between the North and the South are resolved.

Therefore, re-establishing the Northern rail track and restarting the Yal Devi train service is a landmark in the communal harmony of the country in the process of reconciling the communities after ending terrorism.

The Railway Department under the Ministry of Transport and with huge financial assistance from the Indian government under the Indian Line of Credit has embarked on this massive project of restoring the Northern rail tracks to restart the train services connecting the Northern town again to the South through rail links.

People are eagerly waiting to see the train services from the South to the Northern town of Kankesanthurai and to Talaimannar start for the Southern people to visit the North and for the Northern people to visit the South in a relaxed journey while improving their cultural ties in a mutual way.

The Railway officials made the first step towards restoring the train services in the newly re-laid tracks on the Medawachchiya-Talaimananar line, after successfully completing the trial run from Medawachchiya to Madhu Road on April 23 as 96 percent of the track upto Madhu has been completed with the hope of starting the train services upto Madhu Road by the end of next month. Therefore, people would be able to see the recommencement of the train services to the Northern towns within this year.

Commissioned for traffic

According to Chief Engineer Way and Works and Project Director Northern Rail line from Omanthai to Pallai Priya Fernando, nearly 80 percent of the construction work of the Omanthai to Pallai section has also been completed as of now with the focus on completing the first phase of the project upto Kilinochchi by September this year.

The railway line from Medawachchi to Kankesanthurai in the northern most part of the country was constructed and commissioned for traffic on September 10, 1905 and the rail line was destroyed by the LTTE several times and the train service completely ceased operations after June 13, 1990.

Completed section of the rail track

"The project to construct the rail track from Omanthai to Pallai commenced on March 24, 2011 and it has to be completed by September 24, 2013.
"The construction of the rail track and fixing of bridges and culverts will also be included under this project at a cost of US$ 185 million", he said.
The Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON) has undertaken the construction work as the key contractor of the project.
"This section of the track is having crossing stations and sub-stations at Puliyankulam, Mankulam, Murikkandi, Kilinochchi, Paranthan, Elephant Pass (Halt) and Pallai. The existing railway stations will be redeveloped to facilitate the project", Fernando said.
Although the former track was constructed with a design speed of 80 kilometres per hour, the new track will have a design speed of 120 kilometres per hour. "That means the trains can run at a speed of 100 kilometres per hour", he said.

Straightening bends

When constructing the new track, steps have been taken to straighten the bends in the earlier track, making it possible to increase the speed of the train. "We can say 90 percent of the earth formation has been done, seven kilometres of the track and 1.25 kilometres of the rail lines have already been laid. Through that process we have completed the most difficult part of the project to facilitate the laying of the track", he said. "We are focusing attention on completing the track upto Kilinochchi at the first phase and to complete the second phase from Kilinochchi to Pallai later", he said.
Project Director for the Northern Rail Line from Pallai to Kankesanthurai section S.G. Premkumar said the construction work of the second phase of the project which has also been undertaken by the Indian Railway Construction Company Limited was also commenced on June 14, 2012.

"We have cleaned the surface of the track and a detailed survey on all the bridges, culverts, level crossings has been done. The rails required have already been brought. Now the contractor is going ahead with the construction work at different stages at different places", he said.

The trial run from Medawachchiya to Madhu Road on April 23

There are seven crossing stations between Pallai and Kankesanthurai and the stations are located in Kodikamam, Chavakachcheri, Navatkuli, Jaffna, Kondavil and Chunnakam. The 11 sub-stations are at Elthumadduval, Mirusavil, Meesalai, Sangasthanai, Kachchanthoppu, Punhankulam, Kokuvil, Lunuvil, Mallakam and Thelippallai. "This section of the project costs US$ 149 million. According to the schedule, the project has to be completed by June 13, 2014 and the contractor is working on that", he said. "The main challenge we faced in this project is the supply of gravel. Since the project comes within the Jaffna peninsula where gravel is not available, the gravel needed for the project has to be brought from the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts.
"Therefore, we have to pay a good amount as transport cost for the gravel", he said.
"The other challenge we face is the number of level crossings. Mainly 111 level crossings are there within 65 kilometres and that is not healthy for the speed of the train. However, we have found that one third of those level crossings can be eliminated because they are connecting each other. Therefore, we have presented this case to the Government Agent in Jaffna. Now things are going on little by little and again we will be meeting the Divisional Secretaries with the details of the real roads and connecting roads and to explain to them that there are ways of reducing the number of level crossings", he said.

Newly developed stations

According to Premkumar, only a few of the earlier stations are available at present and they are trying to make use of the existing ones as a part of the newly developed stations. "There were some unauthorised settlers on the rail track, but they were shifted from the track. I must say they shifted without any protest.
Now, only a temple in the university premises is left and I think that issue will also be settled soon without much problem", he said. Project Director, Medawachchiya Madhu and Madhu to Talaimannar Railway Line Development N.P. Lalith N. Peiris said that they are hoping to complete the track from Medawachchiya to Madhu Road by the end of May as they have already completed 96 percent of the work.
"A trial run was successfully conducted on April 23", he said. "We started construction work of this section of the rail track on March 23, 2011. The cost of the project from Medawachchiya to Madhu is US$ 81.31 million", he said.

The construction site

No sign of tracks

By the time the construction work started, there was no sign of a track and the rails and sleepers had been removed for the construction of bunkers. There are three stations, between the 43 kilometre stretch between Medawachchiya and Madhu Road and they are Nellikulum, Chettikulum and Madhu Road.


"Now the track is completed and the building work is also about 80 percent completed. By the end of May, the entire section from Medawachchiya to Madhu will be completed if there are no other problems", he said. He said about 50 percent of the construction of the rail track between Madhu Road to Talaimannar is also completed with the aim of completing the project by September."Most of the rails and sleepers have been imported from India to facilitate the project. These things have been designed under Indian railway standards and they are very similar to Sri Lankan standards", he said.
The US$ 149.74 million project of laying the rail track from Madhu to Talaimannar include the construction of the Talaimannar pier. "Since the project also includes the pier the contractors may not be able to complete the entire project within the given time frame", he said.
There are three major bridges to facilitate the project and there will be a 100 foot three span bridge, and a 100 foot two span bridge. The Talaimannar pier is 960 feet in length. Five crossing stations and three sub-stations will be there between Madhu Road and Talaimannar.
The five main stations will be Murunkan, Mannar, Pesalai, Talaimannar and the Taliamannar Pier. The other three halts are located at Manthottam, Thiruketheeswaran and Thoddaweli. "The rail track has a design speed of 120 kilometres per hour, but normally a train can run at a speed of 100 kilometres per hour. That means within one and a half hours you can travel from Medawachchiya to Talaimannar", he said.
The completion of the Medawachchiya, Talaimannar rail track along with the Talaimannar pier will pave the way to create the shortest link between India and Sri Lanka with the starting of the ferry service between Talaimannar and Rameswaran."This is very good for Sri Lanka and India, and it will be a good opportunity for tourism as well. The Northern people will find that it is the shortest and the cheapest way of travelling to India", he said.

Source:http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2013/04/28/fea05.asp

Trial train-run reaches Madhu Road Station

A trial run on the 43-km new railway track between Medawachchiya and Madhu Road was conducted recently. The rail track was reconstructed by Ircon International Limited, a government company under the Ministry of Railways of India. Project Director, Sri Lanka Railway, M.P.L.N Peiris, Team leader, CECB, M P De Silva and General Manager, Ircon International Limited, S L Gupta, undertook the trial run. The trial run commenced from the Medawachchiya station and ended at the newly constructed Madhu Road Station.

“The trial run was successful and comfortable and we are pleased that this phase of the project has been completed,” said Gupta.The reconstructed track is a 43-km long segment of the Northern Railway Line project, comprising 252-km of rail track, which is being executed by Ircon International Limited.

The project is funded by the Government of India, under an Indian line of credit.

“This segment has been completed within schedule,” said Gupta.

The reconstructed railway track has been designed with a speed potential of 120 kmph. Rail joints are minimised using the latest modern welding technology.

Pre-stressed concrete sleepers have been used to lay the tracks, instead of traditional wooden sleepers to ensure durable and stronger tracks, simultaneously helping to preserve the environment.

CMS (Cast Manganese Steel) crossings with standard turnouts, long welded rails with switch expansion joints, panel interlocking and flash butt welding have been incorporated to provide a long-lasting track, with minimal maintenance effort.

“For the execution of the project, local manpower and agencies have been deployed to generate employment and skills development,” said Gupta.

Source:http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2013/04/28/fin05.asp

Jaffna Music Festival a resounding success

The Jaffna Music Festival 2013, held at the Jaffna Town Municipal Grounds recently was a resounding success. Organizers say the event was witnessed by a collective audience of over 25,000 people over the two days. Many groups of people from the North, South, East and West travelled to the grounds to witness together the excitement of hosting a wide array of musicians and performers from both all over the country and internationally-who entertained the crowd with their colourful costumes and unusual instruments.

There were numerous family-friendly activities lined up during the daytime programme which included an intimate and informal setting on which artists of Folk, Classical, Contemporary genres could entertain and educate audiences about their various musical genres. The performers were colourful and lively and most engaged the audience by getting off the stages to encourage members of the audience to join in on the singing, dancing and general merriment.

A participant named Thush said, “It felt like we were all part of the show, and the atmosphere was as if we were in a village somewhere in Jaffna – it was exciting but also very relaxed at the same time.”

The children’s stage was a huge hit where children from all over the country were inspired and entertained through very impressive and polished performances ranging from Folk to Blues, Jazz, Choral and Percussion.

The mornings were lively and colourful with a blend of a variety of languages, songs, music and flair floating in the air. Capturing all those special moments were official JMF photographers, accompanied by the participants of the Youth Social Media Programme conducted by USAID together with the National Youth Services Council.

The night-time main stage performances dazzled everyone – the local artists astounded audiences with multi-faceted acts which featured a unique performance from a female drummer and fire eater. It truly was a festival of diverse cultural interaction. The mix of diverse musical genres representing traditions and styles from across Sri Lanka and the world provided an interesting musical experience. The multiple collaborations between Bangladesh, Norway, India and Sri Lanka in forms of both song and dance were a huge hit with the crowds.

The Jaffna Music Festival 2013 was brought to you by Sewalanka in collaboration with Rikskonsertene (Concerts Norway) and Aru Sri Art Theatre and is funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This time around the festival was conducted in co-partnership with the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau and the Municipal Council of Jaffna.

Source:http://colombogazette.com/2013/03/29/jaffna-music-festival-a-resounding-success/