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Road races flagged off amidst groans, cheers
The second edition of the Colombo Night Races during the weekend was an electrifying event that drew massive crowds. Although some people welcomed the excitement to the city, the closure of roads caused a lot of inconvenience too.
All set with sand bags, water cannons and barricades. Pix by Amila Prabodha
The routes that were blocked off from 6 p.m. onwards on Friday and Saturday included Chaitya Road from Colombo Harbour to Janadhipathi Mawatha, the Bank of Ceylon Mawatha junction to Clock Tower roundabout and Regal roundabout. Justice Akbar Mawatha, Malay Street junction, Gamini Hall roundabout and Kollupitiya junction were also closed for heavy vehicles.
Traffic piled up in the Fort area, especially on Friday. Altered bus routes also confused commuters.
The organisers should not have chosen a working day for the event because people found it inconvenient to get home after a tiring day’s work 24-year-old R. Ayeshi said. “I was on my way to Moratuwa with my mother,” she said. “We found it hard to find a bus because all the routes had changed.”
Nishan Wijesooriya, a 33-year-old banker employed in Colombo, echoed her sentiments. “They don’t care about hardships that common people like us suffer. Holding races is not bad, but they should be organised in a way that it doesn’t affect the public.”
Charith Fernando, 22, said such events were good for the country as they attracted tourists while helping to develop the sport. “It was very entertaining,” he enthused. “I came with my friends. It was a different experience for all of us because night races are not held in Sri Lanka often.”
Water cannons, usually deployed to use against protestors were ready at hand to douse any flames that could arise from any car crash.
The army had helped to sew up hundreds of sandbags which were placed around the track to cushion the impact of possible accidents. A local radio station joked that when spied from a satellite these looked like bags of “parippu” (dhal), unloaded from the nearby port and laid out for the gullible public to buy.
Mattresses emblazoned with the names of sponsors also lined the roads in some places. It was reported that nearly 150,000 sandbags, 5,000 tyres and 3,000 metres of chain link were used along the racetrack which ran from Hotel Galadari to York Street and back.
There were six paramedical points with four ambulances at different locations around the track. There were also fire trucks and extinguishers while 12 medical assistance points covered all areas of the course. There was also a heavy presence of police and army in both uniform and civil clothing.
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