Nugegoda

Nugegoda is a densely populated, large suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is in the border of Sri Jayawardenapura Municipal Council Limits and Dehiwela Mt. Lavinia Municipal Council Limits, just outside Colombo City Limits. Central Nugegoda is a collection of densely packed shops and mixed residential areas.

History

Nugegoda was a small town a few decades ago but has seen a high degree of growth and development recently. In the 1960s there were already several established stores along the main street, known then as Church Road. It was renamed Stanley Tilekeratne Mawatha after the popular politician in the 1970s during the wave of Sinhala nationalisation and when the road was widened to accommodate the increased traffic. Nugegoda had its own cinema house and was also a major train station along what was the Kelani Valley line - one of the last active single gauge train lines. There has been a huge increase in buildings and a great reduction in trees and green areas. Agricultural lands like paddy fields (still present in the early 1990s) have largely been used for building and development. At present, a number of educational institutes are found here, such as St.John's College-Nugegoda, Anula Vidyalaya, Samudradevi Balika Maha Vidhyalaya (originally St John's Girls' School), Sakya Institute and the Infamous Rotary Tuition Classes.