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B D Rampala :
Engineer, entrepreneur and legend
One hundredth birth anniversary memorial lecture
yesterday:
Eng Gratian A Peiris
The Institution of Engineers, Sri
Lanka (IESL) held ‘Eng B D Rampala Memorial Lecture 2010’ to mark 100th
birth anniversary of this national icon yesterday, November 15 at the
IESL’s Wimalasurendra auditorium at Vidya Mawatha Colombo 7
This year the theme is ‘Successful turning around of Indian railways
and lessons relevant for Sri Lanka Railways’, which was delivered by a
young railway engineer, Eng Keerthi K Hewavithana - Engineer
Headquarters, Sri Lanka Railways.
Eng B D Rampala
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Eng B D Rampala is said to have received the accolade ‘the Cleverest
Engineer East of Suez’ after he successfully corrected a technical
defect in hydraulic transmission of a batch of locomotives imported to
the country when the experts from the manufacturing company failed to
find a solution.
In recognition of his originality, talents and skills in the sphere
of mechanical engineering, the London Institution of Locomotive
Engineers, awarded him a special prize for the ‘Best Technical Paper’
presented before that Institution, that year, at a comparatively young
age. In 1956 the Royal Engineering Society of the United Kingdom
recognized him as ‘the Best Engineer in Asia’.
Chief Mechanical Engineer
The legendary Bamunuarachchige Don Rampala was born on November 14,
1910. He completed his education at Nalanda Vidyalaya and Ananda College
and joined the Ceylon Government Railway (CGR) in 1934 after completing
his engineering apprenticeship at Colombo University College. Fifteen
years later in 1949 he became the first Sri Lankan to be appointed as
the Chief Mechanical Engineer of CGR and then in 1955 his career was in
full throttle as the General Manager Railways (GMR).
He continued as the GMR for 15 years, ushering in ‘the Golden Rampala
Era’ of the CGR. He had a full lease of life and died on June 20, 1994
at the age of 84. He was a Chartered Mechanical Engineer by profession
and a fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka. He was made an
Honorary Life Fellow by the IESL for leading the Engineering Community
in Sri Lanka as the President of the IESL, from 1958 to 1959 and his
outstanding contribution to the country.
Sound entrepreneur
First and foremost he was a very good engineer, clever, pragmatic,
cost conscious and results oriented. He set the example and commanded
the respect of fellow engineers, politicians and the public alike. He
mastered engineering to serve the public and was adapt in using
engineering knowledge to gain technical and cost advantages that were
translated into rich dividends of comfort and economic fares for the
public.
He achieved many firsts in the build-up of local ‘Diesel Shunting
Locomotives’ at the Ratmalana Workshops; the introduction of ‘Colour
Lights Signalling’ with ‘Centralized Traffic Control’ to ease the
‘congestion’ at peak hours in the suburbs of Colombo; the installation
of a network of ‘Radio Trans Receivers’ at central and terminal stations
within the Railway System, for direct communications pertaining to
crucial operating matters and for emergency situations.
At the same time Eng Rampala was a visionary. He envisioned the
transformation of the CGR from a facility that served the needs of the
colonial masters to an efficient public utility that assured safety,
access, reliability, speed, comfort and joy to the public. He introduced
‘Observation Cars’, ‘Long Coaches of 55 feet’ and the provision of
‘Better Seating Facilities’ in our long distance trains. Dieselization
of the steam engines and introduction of ‘Long Distance Fast Express
Trains’ were also among his pioneering efforts.
Eng Rampala was a sound entrepreneur as well. He had his ‘railway
daughters’ Yal Devi, Udarata Menike and Ruhunu Kumari born in mid-1950s
and he drove Rhunu Kumari to Matara on its first run. Since then for
generations these ever green damsels have been great friends of the Sri
Lankan public and tourists. They connected people, did the mileage and
raked in revenue. For many decades to follow no child grew in Sri Lanka
without imitating the movement of a train reciting the rhyme Udarata
Meniketa Pata Kuda Deka Deka with a ‘hooo..... hooo’ in between to
produce the sound effects! Many a couple met in the train and tied the
knot living happily ever after.
There was a unique ‘railway culture’ enriched during his tenure.
Retired Station Master Mailwahanam Vipulaskandha who grew up near the
Jaffna Railway Station reminisced to the Sri Lanka Railways Forum about
the hustle and bustle of the once busy Jaffna Railway Station and the
express train to the North, Yal Devi. “Yal Devi commenced its journey in
the 1950s. As a boy growing up in Jaffna, I remember all the commotion
which took place at the Jaffna station when the Yal Devi arrived,” he
said. “In its heyday, Jaffna railway station was the second largest
station. The porters rushed to the platform ready to put the luggage on
their heads.
The tea-boys were ready with their kettles and the vendors of vadai
switched on their kerosene stoves,” he reflects. Yal Devi has been
somewhat sick and not been able to do the full journey for a long time.
We wish her a speedy recovery and that she soon be able to travel the
full distance between Yaalpanam and Colombo bringing loads of
Karthakolomban and other delicacies from our Northern friends while
taking delicacies from the South in exchange! It would have been an
added satisfaction if the track were constructed by our engineers and
tradesmen.
Tsunami devastation
Railway commuters agree that not only Yal Devi but, the entire
railway system has been sick for sometime now. Is it because there are
no engineers of the calibre of Eng Rampala now? Or is it because of
other reasons? Perhaps we must engage in a constructive dialogue on this
important subject as a mark of respect for this great railway engineer.
Indian railways was also quite sick not so long ago. Then came a
revolutionary and inspiring turnaround strategy that was carefully
planned and meticulously implemented. There may be lessons relevant for
Sri Lanka Railways (SLR) from this turnaround story and Eng Keerthi K
Hewavithana provided an insight to these lessons at the Eng B D Rampala
Memorial held yesterday, November 15.
The country can still remember how SLR repaired and restored the
coastal lines, bridges and signal systems in record time after the
tsunami devastation and put trains back on track on full steam with the
able assistance of the State Engineering Corporation (SEC), Central
Engineering Consultancy Bureau (CECB) and the State Development
Corporation (SD and CC). The cost incurred was a decimal from the
estimates given by foreign companies and the time taken was just a small
faction.
Everybody thought that this momentum would be maintained and SLR
would soon be out of the rot. Perhaps we have missed a golden
opportunity by not carrying on the momentum of rebuilding tsunami
affected tracks and moving on to undertake the construction of new
tracks on our own, at one quarter of the cost we now pay to foreign
contractors and use the resulting experience to undertake overseas
railway construction contracts.
Perhaps, it may not be too late to engage in an open and honest
constructive dialogue that will make SLR a sustainable technologically
driven utility provider that meets the expectations of the commuters.
Our engineers have the required talent, business acumen and dedication
and they are ready to take a leaf from the book of Eng Rampala and also
learn from the success stories in India and elsewhere in putting the SLR
on the right track. From an engineering perspective Sri Lankan engineers
are talented, competent and confident. Our engineers are capable of
following the shining example of Eng Rampala providing technological
leadership and our railway workers are ready to take the challenge.
National framework
One might argue that the likes of Eng Rampala, Eng Wimalasurendra and
Eng Dr Kulasinghe are exceptionally gifted people and the country may be
lucky to have a few of them born in each generation. If that is the
case, it is important to recognize them when they show the first signs
of exceptional talent and brilliance. For that we must have a national
framework conducive to recognize them, nurture them, empower them and
handover the baton of technological leadership to such prodigies to take
our public and private enterprises to the next level and mark the
technological destiny of the nation.
Perhaps there may be a few Rampalas, Wimalasurendras and Kulasinghes
out there even as we will gather on Monday to commemorate the legendary
Eng Rampala, while dozens have left for other countries that respect
their talents and provide them the latitude and altitude to use their
professional aptitude.
If we as a Nation spot the remaining ones as a mission of urgency and
prevent the upcoming ones fleeing away, and utilize their brilliance,
talents, capabilities and dedication to good effect then, Sri Lanka
would undoubtedly be the ‘Miracle of Asia’! The writer is the IESL
Mechanical Engineering Sectional Committee Chairman |
