Muscat: Burst water pipes at two places caused massive traffic jams early in the morning on Wednesday in Muscat.
The government employees, trooping in for duty to various ministries, had to wade through waterlogged Al Khuwair district as a huge underground water pipe had burst. At around the same time another pipe burst near Qurum Roundabout, just a few kilometres away from the ministry area.
"The pipe burst has created traffic chaos," a spokesperson for the Royal Oman Police (ROP) told Gulf News.
"I took three hours to cover about 15-km journey from Al Khuwair to Ruwi," Turki Al Blushi told Gulf News.
Residents, stuck for hours in traffic gridlocks, tweeted about the chaos on the roads. "My usual 20 minute commute took me 1 hour and a half today thanks to a burst water pipe shutting down the highway," tweeted Ian McNaught.
The officials from Ministry of Regional Municipality and Water as well as Muscat Municipality were working hard to clear the roads with ROP officers. "Our first task is to ease the traffic flow by clearing water," an engineer at the site said on the condition of anonymity.
The engineer said that old corroded pipes could be the reason for the pipe burst.
The burst at Al Khuwair almost drowned a car parked by the side of the road but otherwise there was no material loss or injury to anyone.
Meanwhile, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has announced that the roundabouts at Qurum and Al Khuwair will be closed for four days from Wednesday to carry out the repair work to the damage caused by the flooding from the burst pipes.
The police also ruled out any sabotage. The next four days are National Day holidays in Oman, therefore, residents would not be put through much hardships.
