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Internet City taps run dry

According to Raju Srivastava, a worker in Building No. 3, the shortage left the adjoining restaurants and cafés devoid of any water for days.

"We were not given any due notice about the water shortage and many of us have had a tough time coping with the situation. Our bathrooms are filthy and the cafés in the area have also stopped serving us tea or coffee since then," he said.

The tenants told Khaleej Times that the water supply was abruptly stopped on Tuesday afternoon without any due notice given to them.

“We have been used to this kind of maintenance for a long time. Many of us have lodged complaints with the authorities but to no avail," said Sadanand, an employee with a software company in Building 7.

A DIC official told Khaleej Times that the water disruption was due to the excessive vibration from the ongoing construction in the Free Zone.

“We would like to apologise for the disruption in water supply and the delay in returning it to service at Dubai Internet City buildings 1 to 9. This was an unexpected occurrence and it took longer than anyone would have liked to restore the water supply. Once again, we apologise for the inconvenience,” he said.

By yesterday afternoon, water supply was reconnected but many people expressed their dissatisfaction with the maintenance service.

R.M., Managing Director of a company in phase I, said: "What guarantee do we have that this won't happen again. The water supply has been disconnected sporadically for the past several months. And the answer that we get from DIC is due to the construction taking place in the area. This shouldn't be our problem," he remarked.

Several other individuals complained that the rent they were paying was not justifiable to the kind of service they were receiving.

"They recently hiked the rents here and we were expecting a little more service from DIC. They did not even give us any due notice for this water problem and many of us were caught unawares about the problem," complained Walter, another tenant.

Members of the maintenance staff said that the disruption in water supply was conveyed to the tenants after Tuesday and signboards had also been put up regarding the same.

"In most cases if a disruption occurs in any of our services, we inform the tenants beforehand. Sometimes it happens on a short notice. But we try sending the notice soon enough to avoid any inconvenience," said a maintenance worker.

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