The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017
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Item The land transportation depicted in Mahāvaṃsa and Dīpavaṃsa from 6th B.C.E to the 3rd C.E(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Gunawardhana, N.According to the written records like the Mahāvaṃsa and the Dīpavaṃsa history of Sri Lanka may have begun from the arrival of the prince Vijaya circa 6th B.C.E. Although the history begins from the 6th century B.C.E., the literary sources were not recorded till the 4th century C.E. The first Chronicle, the Dīpavaṃsa was written between the 4th and 5th C.E., while the Mahāvaṃsa was written a century later in the 5th or 6th C.E. The authors of these Chronicles belonging to the Mahā Vihāra of the orthodox tendency and they have exaggerate the works of some kings who have been sympathetic towards the Mahā Vihāra while those like Mahāsēna who were ardent supporter of the Mahāyāna were criticized. It is also necessary to bear in mind that most of the accounts of these authors are subjected to usual exaggerations. The authors of these Chronicles of the 4th and the 5th centuries impose their values and partial judgments over the events that have taken place in the 6th century B.C.E. The Mahāvaṃsa and the Dīpavaṃsa shed light on the land transportation in ancient Sri Lanka from the 6th B.C.E. The Immigration of Aryan, prove the fact that the land roads were connected with the ports like Mahātittha, Gōkaṇṇa, Jambukōlapattana etc. All these land routes are connected with ancient capital city of Anurādhapura. This paper proposes to discuss the significance of all the transportation methods as well. These accumulated data are analyzed to evaluate the above mentioned topic.Item Highway system in Ancient Sri Lanka(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Vidanapathirana, P.Historical information about the ancient road network of Sri Lanka is restricted to random records encountered in historical documents and information recorded as a result of research carried out during the British administration. This study is based on a recent research conducted with special attention towards the technical aspects of the ancient road system and its expansion over the island. An attempt is also made to reconstruct the road system that existed from the third century BC up to 13th century AD. Modern research techniques are applied in identifying technical aspects and the expansion of the road system that is in discussion. Political stability, strength of the ruling power, economic prosperity and the establishment, and the spared of religious institutions contributed to the sustainability and expansion of a developed road network during the period. Technical know-how and the expertise that had been applied and made use of in constructing road system in contemporary South Asian countries could be identified within the national road network in ancient Sri Lanka too. Geographically Sri Lanka being an island, it had maintained a close relationship with several international sea routs. Hence as an infrastructural facility, a road network connecting cities and urban areas to inward places had developed. Furthermore island had maintained a close relationship with long distance sea routs that facilitated an international trade. That helped the existence of a systematic road network expanding towards regional and peripheries from the main cities.Item Integrating Environmental Safeguards in Roads Sector Development, Sri Lanka(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Yahampath, P.Roads development in Sri Lanka has become a key agenda in national development process, fulfilling needs of infrastructure establishment. Improvements of existing roads have been prioritized instead of new roads construction in rural and urban areas. Roads development in Sri Lanka being administrated in different scales; nationally by Roads Development Authority (11700 km of national highways), provincially by Provincial Roads Development Authorities (15500 km of provincial roads) Locally by Local Authorities (65000 km of local authority roads) and 24000 km of roads owned or controlled by other authorities. Sri Lanka’s road network is dense and well laid-out providing connectivity to the country’s population, also the network density is among the highest in South Asia. The roads development financial mechanism has been functioned in phases of improvement and operational. Main cost needed for improvement as the implementation, the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) being played key role such as World Bank, Asian Development Bank. Even though National Environment Act guided for Environmental considerations, due to mandatory requirement of IFIs Environmental Safeguards has integrated in to a great extent. Under the Environmental Safeguards Policy of IFI, globally Environmental Assessment and Management Framework (EAMF) has been developed as a Project based overall document, to guide the entire project. The EAMF is enriched with environmental impact category and nature of the environmental impact. Possible mitigation measures have been described precisely under the phases of Pre-construction, During-Construction and Post-Construction. According to EAMF the Roads Specific Environmental Assessment has been conducted for each of the roads and the report is prepared to guide the development of Environmental Management Plan and to further develop the Environmental Management Action Plan. Concluding, the Environmental Safeguards system in roads development sector well established for better Environmental Management, by balancing the concept of “development & conservation”.