Workers removing water from two streets in Al Hilal area yesterday. Pic by: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula
The country’s preparedness to deal with rains, which Qatar received over the last few days, bore fruit as rainwater overflow and logging in different parts of the country were tackled in a record time. With the Rain Emergency Team working round the clock, some 106 million gallons of water have been drained away from the public areas.
With the northern part of the country receiving the highest amount of rain for more than three days, a majority of the complaints were from that part of the country, said Safar Mubarak Al Shafi, head of Rain Emergency Team at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.
“The priority in removing rain water was given to highways, main roads, internal streets, roundabouts and public and residential areas. We were able to drain all the water-logged streets yesterday, and now only a few places outside the city remain to be cleared”, said Al Shafi.
“About 106 million gallons of rain water have been removed through 21,911 trips from Tuesday until yesterday noon. Municipalities used 349 tankers, 45 pumps and 543 workers and employees of the ministry,” added Al Shafi, who was appointed by the minister as the head of the team.
The areas which were heavily affected by the rain were Al Khor, Al Daayen, Doha, Al Rayan, Al Ruwais and Al Wakra. Different parts of the country that are not populated were also covered by the team.
The team worked round the clock to tackle water logging in a record time. “During the rainy days, we were working 24 hours without any stop. Our team was out working even as heavy rains continued.”
He also added that “we have a control room in collaboration with Ashghal and Municipality. It is equipped with hot lines to receive reports, queries and complaints from the public which are then transferred to authorities concerned.”
Earlier,a few days of rains would result in flooding in many parts of the country, especially the major highways and low-lying ones.
Both the public and a number of officials at different government and non-government bodies have praised the Rain Emergency Team for their efforts.
“For the first time, I have seen authorities removing water on the same day. Thanks for the efforts made by the rain emergency team to drain the water from the streets and neighbourhood. The efforts are still continuing to remove the stagnant water,” tweeted Hassan Al Sai, a media professional.
“This time, the rain water was under control, thanks to the rain emergency team for their work 24 hours,” said Hamad Lahdan Al Muhannadi, Central Municipal Council (CMC) member.
Meanwhile, another citizen living in Karthiyath said that the water drainage was “completed in three hours and the efforts have been amazing.”
Another Qatari added also that “compared to last time, Muaither streets were in a better state in terms of water.”
