Railways and police ignore defective crossings, putting lives in peril
A young mother and her two children died at a railway crossing where the lighting had not been fixed, once again bringing into focus the deadly public transport infrastructure across Sri Lanka
A day after the accident in Maiyawa, Arachchikattuwa, Transport Minister Bandula Gunawardena blamed the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for blocking plans to introduce a low-cost barrier system.
The deaths once again exposed Sri Lanka Railways and the police, which had failed to find a replacement for the gatekeeper, who quit, citing ill health.
Last Monday, as usual, Shanika Dilrukshi, 36, had taken her son Sasath Manjula, 9, for a tuition class. Ms. Dilrukshi’s daughter, Sisumsha Shavindi, 6, was accompanying them.
Ms. Dilrukshi approached the crossing, found the gate open, and tried to pass through, only to collide with the Puttalambound
train. The bike was dragged on for more than 100 metres. The mother and two children had died instantly. Residents said the lighting system was defective and had been flashing red. As a result, they continued to ignore it.
Three gatekeepers had been working on a shift basis where one person covered an eight-hour shift, but two of them had quit, and one person was covering two shifts, leaving one shift unattended.
Monday’s accident took place during the unattended shift.
One gatekeeper, Upul Indika, had stepped down four months ago due to ill health. He told the Sunday Times that he had started working in 2013, but, due to diabetes, his sight had been failing, and he had decided to stop working. Four months ago, he officially handed over a letter to the Arachchikattuwa Police, notifying them he would stop working. The vacancy had not been filled.
“The main reason that people do not like to take the job is that the payment is very small. But I worked for 10 years, as the crossing is located close to my house, and I did not worry about the payment. I feel sorry that these deaths could not be prevented. These deaths could have been avoided if there was a gatekeeper on duty,” he said.
Resident Saman Ranatunga said: “Due to the malfunctioning signal system, there had been several instances where there had been narrow escapes. But this incident ended in a disaster.” Although the railway authorities have been informed about the defect, it has not been fixed, residents said.
Sri Lanka Railway has been grappling with unprotected level crossings for several decades.
Transport Minister Gunawardena last year said there were 1,177 level crossings in the country, of which 437 had been equipped with colour light security systems, 434 had been secured with bell and light systems, and 306 crossings remained unprotected.
However, according to railway authorities, there are 400 unprotected level crossings.