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Sharjah, Ajman municipal bodies gear up for rains

AJMAN/SHARJAH - The municipal authorities of Sharjah and Ajman have claimed that the preparatory steps taken by them would avoid flooding and other traffic problems during the rainy season this time.

The foremost among the steps is the replacing of roundabouts with signal junctions in both the emirates. This has helped the drainage. Earlier, water used to accumulate in the roundabouts and the municipalities had to use pumps to drain the water,” said officials.

Engineer Omar Al Mehairi, Head of the Public Works Department of the Ajman Municipality, said the municipality has divided the emirate into five sections. Each of them would be monitored by a team of workers from various sections.

It has also arranged 30 tanker trucks to suck the water from the roads, parking lots and roundabouts in various parts of the emirate. Around 45 diesel pumps had been allocated for the purpose and eight pump rooms would be working 24 hours to pump the water to the sea.

Besides, 16 wells have been dug in various parts of the emirate to bring down the water level on the streets and localities, Al Mehairi said.

He pointed out that new road construction projects and intersections which have replaced a number of roundabouts have helped enhance the drain system in the emirate. An advanced drain network has been laid in Al Nuaimia, Khalifa Road and other parts of the emirate to tackle the problems caused by the rains.

The precautionary plan includes pavement and reconstruction of roads in some residential areas like Al Bustan and Al Nuaimia where people had suffered the most last year due to 
muddy roads.

Al Mehairi said engineers and workers have already fixed the problems in the areas where pools of stagnant water remained for long periods last year and affected the environment.

Joint efforts will soon be made by the municipality and the Civil Defence Department to take prompt and immediate action if there is any problem during the rains this year.

Staff from the municipality’s Emergency Section will be assigned to patrol various areas in the emirate to allow prompt intervention for fixing probable defects on roads and streets in residential areas. “The staff is also prepared to respond to public appeals for assistance during such emergency,” Al Mehairi said.

“By adopting and applying such precautionary measures, Ajman will not face any kind of rain-related problems again.”

The Sharjah Municipality has formed a Rain Emergency Committee that holds regular meetings in preparation to deal with the rains this time. The committee comprises representatives of various sections, including the departments of sewerage, public services, solid waste and security.

The municipality has 80 tankers and arrangements have also been made to hire tankers from private companies, said Sultan Al Mualla, Director-General.

“We are carrying out several procedures in order to make sure that all municipal departments are ready and equipped to handle the rains,” he said.

He said priority would be given to the recently-affected roads like Emirates Road, Al Dhaid Road and Sharjah Airport Road. The municipality had to partially close all these roads to deal with the flood emergency recently. Other badly-hit roads that were closed were Taraf, Al Rafaa and Tarafan.

“The committee is working round the clock, and it is making sure that the drainage is not clogged with leaves and other kinds of rubbish that may have got into the drain,” he said.

He said a new and improved sewer network will be in place within three years. Abdulaziz Al Mansoori, Deputy Manager, Drainage Department at the municipality, said that the Emergency Committee on Thursday chalked out a plan to deal with any rain-related problems such as waterlogging on roads and in parking lots and other areas in 
the emirate.

Al Mansouri said the department recently expanded the drain pipes in some areas in the city and the municipal workers have just completed the cleaning of the openings of the drains.

The municipality is coordinating with the Sharjah Police control room to receive complaints and control the traffic movement.

He urged the public to call the municipality’s emergency number 992 to complain about any rain-related problem or call 06-5651071 to the operations room of the municipality.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com