"CEB's debt to Wimalasurendra:Cheap,uninterrupted electricity."
That was the headline of an article by Prof' K. Sivasubramanian on the 127th birth anniversary of D.J. Wimalasurendra, and published in the Daily News on the 17th.
A Daily News news item of Wednesday the 17th reported that a statue of the great man, Devapura Jayasena Wimalasurendra was unveiled to mark his 128th birth anniversary on that date. A postage stamp was also issued a few years ago to commemorate this Sinhala genius to whom we have a debt of gratitude that cannot be repaid in statues and stamps,speeches and articles.
How, then, can we ever repay this great debt to the Father of the Hydroelectric
Scheme which gave us light when we were in a dark age? More statues and more
special stamps, speeches and press articles? Such debts are not easily repaid;what
would be appropriate is to build on what he began,take 'his lights'to places
in this island where there is no light,take the light into the homes of rural
people, some of whom still live in primitive conditions in this supposedly enlightened
day and age.
D.J. Wimalasurendra became a legend in his lifetime-and that happens to only
a few, especially those who are not popular, active politicians.They say he
was an engineer without peer in the country.Last year at this time the power
cuts were on causing untold inconveniences to millions of people in all areas
of the country. D.J. was a visionary,but he could not have foreseen that the
population of this country would push 20 million between the time he created
his monumental engineering feat and now. He would have been appalled.
A short, stocky man, very dark in complexion, intellectual genius though he
was,was never aloof from his people. He was never too busy with his great engineering
scheme to sit down and talk about simple things with simple people.
Wimalasurendra's father,master-craftsman Don Juan Dewapura Jayasinghe Wimalasurendra
of Galwadugoda, Galle, was honoured by Queen Victoria. The senior Wimalasurendra's
ability to engrave on diamonds was not known to anyone else,even those of his
own goldsmith clan.
This ability was noted by the British Governor of the time who had his initials
engraved on his own diamond ring by the master craftsman.. It is said that on
seeing the ring, Queen Victoria summoned Wimalasurendra to Windsor Castle outside
London where the Royal Family was in residence at the time, as it still does
during the summer social season. Wimalasurendra engraved the queen's name on
a diamond pendant. The queen rewarded him -even as his ancestors used to be
rewarded by the Sinhala kings of yore for their work-by conferring on him the
rank of Mudaliyar and presenting him with a portrait of her in oil which is
still to be seen in the formal drawing room of his Colombo 06 residence.
Wimalasurendra took part in an exhibition being held in London on Queen Victoria's
invitation. He presented the monarch with a unique gift-a model of a coconut
flower carved from ivory. With the sheath of the pol mala in the closed position,
it did not look anything unusual. But when it was being presented to the queen,
Wimalasurendra pressed a concealed key and the sheath separated into two. The
flower 'blossomed' in all its glory.
The gift is now in London's Victoria and Albert Museum which houses valuable
gifts given to Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert, and other Victoria
memorabilia. D.J. Wimalasurendra junior about whom this article is written,was
a devout Buddhist. Very close to his heart was the designing of the golden pinnacle
of Dutugemunu's Ruwanweli Maha Seya, a great honour that was accorded to him
by the State and one which he cherished more than anything else.
D.J. Wimalasurendra sat in the Legislative Council, but engineering and creative
designing were his greatest loves, not politics. He married Millicent de Silva,
sister of a former highly respected Director of Education S.F. de Silva, a close
kinsman of the Wimalasurendras.
"Although it was not my fortune to execute the scheme I have originated, I am happy that I lived to see it brought to fruition by my countrymen, and that I should have, in the evening of my life, able to see in reality the dawn which I saw in the mind's eye over half a century ago. Now, if I leave this world, I leave fulfilled."
These were the frustrated but joyous words uttered by late D.J. Wimalasurendra, one of the greatest sons of the soil, an engineer par excellence and a dedicated politician, when in 1950, at the ripe age of 75, he visited the Hydro Electric Scheme stage 1 work. He was a visionary, who lived ahead of his times. It is an irony of fate that we have to celebrate his 126th birth anniversary in an atmosphere of deepening power crisis.
D. J. Wimalasurendra was born on 17th September, 1874, as the eldest son of a master craftsman Mudaliyar Don Juan Wimalasurendra of Galle. D.J. Wimalasurendra had his early education at Ananda College, Colombo. Later he obtained Corporate membership of Electrical Engineers and Civil Engineers of United Kingdom. He joined the Public Works Department (PWD) as a head overseer (this was usual during those days) and subsequently as Junior Engineer. His first job was to construct a camp for Boer prisoners of World War 1 at Diyatalawa. He was also assigned the task of prospecting for minerals that could be used in war efforts. In the process he not only identified mineral deposits but also potential and profitable resources such as water and forests.
Wimalasurendra was responsible for designing the "looping the loop" railway track at Demodara railway station, which still remains as an edifice for his creativity. In 1913 he was involved in the construction of the first ever, small hydro electric power station at Blackpool to supply electricity to Nuwara Eliya town, vsing the town water supply scheme.
In 1918, Wimalasurendra read a paper titled "Economics of Power Utilization in Ceylon" to the Engineering Association wherein he argued the case for the development of hydro potential of the country. He estimated that 114.5 Mw could be developed from Kehelgamuwa oya. The engineering fraternity, who were essentially Englishmen at that time were septic of the whole project. Besides they wondered what the country would do with 114.5 Mw of power? Wimalasurendra countered them and pointed out the need for cheap power for setting up heavy industries for the development of the country. This included the electrification a section of the railway.
In 1923, the government accepted the proposal for constructing a hydro-electric project and the PWD were entrusted with the work. Wimalasurendra was side tracked. Frustrated Wimalasurendra was bitter about the treatment meted out to him and went on long leave to England. he returned to the island only at the request of the Colonial Secretary. In 1926, he was appointed the Chief Engineer of the PWD.
He recommended the separation of the electrical section of the PWD and nationalization of the Colombo electricity scheme, established in 1918 by Boustead Brothers.
He also recommended the installation of thermal plant. The Department of Government Electrical Undertaking (DGEU) was established in 1927 and the Colombo Electricity scheme was vested in it. A thermal power station on the banks of Dematagoda ella was commissioned in 1929 and named after the the Governor, Sir Stanley.
His mission unaccomplished, and his pet project muddled, Wimalasurendra retired from public service in 1930 a frustrated man. the defiant and indefatigable Wimalasurendra, Successfully contested for the State Council from Ratnapura. He, unlike the run of the mill politicians, with courage of conviction fought for the speedy implementation of the hydro-electric scheme. With all his efforts, the scheme on which work was started in 1923 was completed in 1950 only.
In 1933 he proposed the setting up of a "Central Electricity Authority". In 1935, the State Council passed the "Electricity Board Establishment Ordinance No. 38 of 1935. Alas Wimalasurendra's happiness was short lived as the Board was dissolved in 1937 and DGEU was re-established. Wimalasurendra did not live to see yet another of his proposals taking shape, when on 1st. November, 1969, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) was established.
His contributions at the State Council ranged from suggestions on Technical Education to Industrialisation. He was not a politician with greed for power, nor was he guided by any political or economic dogmas, but acted on his convictions. He is an engineer par excellence, committed to the up-lift of the society in which he lived. That was his only goal.
Railway electrification, another dream of Wimalasurendra still remains a dream and the present indications are that it will remain to be so for quite some time.
We have named one of the hydroelectric power stations after him. The government has issued a stamp to perpetuate his memory. The only way we could perpetuate his memory is to ensure that cheap electricity is made available to meet the needs of the country, on a continuous basis. The Ceylon Electricity Board owes this to its originator, if not for the benefit of the fellow citizens.