Sharjah drainage to be completed in 5 years

Sharjah: The drainage network for rain water in Sharjah city is expected to be completed in the next five years, a senior municipality official said yesterday.

Engineer Abdul Aziz Jasem Al Mansouri, Director of the Drainage Department at Sharjah Municipality, announced that the complete drainage network will be ready by 2014. The allocated budget is set at Dh600 million.

"Currently, about 25 per cent of the project has been completed. Once the master plan is implemented, residents will not have to worry at all about any rain-related flooding as the whole city will be adequately equipped," said Al Mansouri.

"There will be three main lines that will connect the central, northern and southern routes. And these routes are being constructed in parallel with the ongoing road works," he pointed out.

"We are now implementing the drainage network at King Abdul Aziz Road as the road works over there are continuing, and the same procedure will be followed in co-ordination with the other road work projects, as well as in residential buildings that are under construction."

A smaller sewage network currently operates in 70 per cent of the city, according to Al Mansouri. The system currently caters to reducing the ground water level, which commonly occurs during the winter months.

Modifications

"We have done a lot of modifications to the city's current sewage network, and although it is smaller than the main drainage for rain water that is currently being constructed, the municipality has recorded fewer flooded areas in 2008 than it had in 2007," said Al Mansouri.

The most commonly affected roads that were badly-affected by last year's rain include Emirates Road, Al Dhaid Road heading towards Sharjah International Airport, and the Industrial Areas.

According to the Rain Emergency Committee at Sharjah Municipality, a high priority has been given to these areas because they affect the traffic circulation in the city.

The highways are also the most vital ones since they connect the Northern Emirates to Dubai.

As part of the municipality's plan in preventing areas from being flooded by the rain this year, the drainage network has already been extended to the Industrial Areas.

The municipality has also informed contractors to drain the water from their construction sites, as this usually leads to traffic congestion.

Al Mansouri pointed out that the municipality has also introduced a new pumping system and have 90 tankers ready to drain the water out of any affected area. Areas that were uneven in previous years have now been levelled out evenly and most trenches have now been closed.