4/5 Roshan Kalpa T. 2 years ago on Google
Approximately
twenty
years
ago,
in
the
late
1990s,
the
space
where
the
Floating
Market
is
on
Bastian
Mawatha
was
one
of
the
worst
areas
in
Pettah;
filled
with
abandoned
age-blackened
factories
and
warehouses,
a
stinking
canal
from
from
the
colonial
era,
shifty
looking
men
lurking
in
shadowed
corners
and
much
illegal
activity.
In
the
meantime,
along
some
of
the
other
streets
in
Pettah,
street
sellers
crowded
the
sidewalks
with
small
illegal
stalls,
overflowing
with
wares,
forcing
the
pedestrians
to
use
middle
of
the
road
to
travel.
This
caused
several
dangerous
accidents
causing
the
Urban
Council
of Colombo
to
break
their
heads
over
it.
However
with
the
civil
war
going
on
at
that
time
in
Sri
Lanka,
resources
were
scarce
and
nothing
was
done.
In
the
first
decade
of
the
new
millennium
the
situation
became
worse,
with
even
more
street
sellers
blocking
the
streets
and
some
even
spilling
into
the
road.
The
shady
warehouses
near
the
city’s
main
private
bus
depot
became
even
more
threatening,
a
haunt
of
drug
dealers,
criminals
and
other
lowlife,
the
place
stank
and
the
ground
was
spattered
with
all
sorts
of
unspeakable
filth.
Most
decent
people
tried
to
avoid
going
down
that
way,
trying
to
catch
buses
from
other
halts
or
buy
produce
elsewhere.
With
the
war
at
an
end
the
resources
used
in
the
war
lay
idle.
Then
the Colombo Urban
Council
came
to
the
decision
that
this
could
not
go
on.
They
decided
to
kill
several
birds
with
one
stone.
They
engaged
the
Urban
Development
Authority
(UDA)
on
a
beautification
project
that
would
end
up
costing
Rs
150
Million.
The
UDA
contacted
the
Ministry
of
Defense
and
requested
the
assistance
of
the
Engineering
Units
from
the
Sri
Lanka
Army
and
units
from
the
Sri
Lanka
Navy,
who
were
both
at
the
time
finding
themselves
at
a
quandary
with
nothing
to
do.
The
military
units
went
to
work
cleaning
up
the
surroundings
of
Bastian
Mawatha.
The
canal
was
dredged
and
cleaned.
Broken
and
abandoned
warehouses
were
demolished
and
their
lands
used
as
space
for
the
floating
market.
Trees
were
planted
making
the
street
more
green
and
lively.
The
canal
was
extended
and
widened.
A
brilliant
young
architect
Thushari
Kariyawasam
looked
the
space
over
and
came
up
with
a
beautiful
design
of
simple
and
rustic
open-sided
pagodas
made
of
smooth
grey
cement
and
surrounded
polished
wooden
walkways.
The
pagodas
were
built
over
the
water
on
platforms
placed
on
sturdy
pillars,
and
were
reached
by
wooden
boardwalks.
The
decor
was
minimalistic,
with
simple
cement
cubes
placed
along
the
wide
boardwalks
as
seats
and
shaded
by
red
umbrellas
that
matched
the
orange
shades
of
the
roofs.
Little
interesting
details
that
attracted
the
eyes
were
added.
Surrounded
by
the
now-clean
and
calm
waters
of
the
canal,
the
space
became
surrealistic.
There
were
spaces
allocated
for
92
shopping
stalls,
including
spaces
within
the
pagodas,
little
wooden
huts,
and
spaces
within
boats
permanently
moored
to
the
platforms.
Once
the
structure
was
complete,
the
streets
in
Pettah
were
cleared
of
street
hawkers,
and
they
were
moved
to
the
Floating
Market.
There,
they
had
to
pay
rent,
but
the
facilities
were
better
and
it
was
much
cleaner.
On
25 August 2014,
the
Floating
Market
of
Pettah
was
declared
open
by
the
Health
Minister,
Maithripala
Sirisena,
who
later
went
on
to
become
the
President
of
Sri
Lanka.
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