Blocked drainage irks Sharjah residents

A blocked drainage system has been causing a bad smell in Sharjah's Al Manakh area for more than seven months.

Tenants are at their wits' end, with neither their real estate agent nor the civic authorities able to offer a solution.

The issue has been further complicated by sewage from an adjoining building also taking a hand in the proceedings, with the dirty water periodically gushing into the ground-floor apartments, driving away seven tenants from the single-storey, even as the others hold their noses and hope against hope.

But it has already been seven months, they despondently reminded this reporter yesterday, with no end in sight.

The building consists of 19 studio apartments. The ground floor has 10 flats of which seven have already been vacated due to the ongoing drainage problem.

The residents present a mix of all nationalities, including the sub-continent and the Arab region. Tenants on the first floor are still cheerful: "No sewage seeps out of our kitchens and toilets, so we're far better off. As for the smell, it's by comparison with our ground-floor tenants' plight just a minor problem."

The tenants said the drainage problem had first appeared a year ago, but the last seven months have been the worst.

"The smell was unbearable, especially during the summer," one resident complained. "Most tenants on the ground floor have cancelled their lease contracts and moved to buildings with better facilities."

The three remaining tenants on the ground floor are also now planning to vacate the premises.
The building neither has a watchman, nor is a routine check is carried out by the real estate company managing the building. Tenants have to report each time the drainage overflows.

Mohammed Ali, maintenance officer of Al Waha Real Estate, summoned to resolve the drainage problem, explained it was found the drainage beneath the building adjacent leaked into this building's drainage system as it is on a higher altitude.

"Such interference in sewerage systems has caused grave suffering to the tenants of the building standing on the lower end of the slope," he acknowledged. "There is no way we can fix the problem unless the matter is mutually negotiated with the neighbouring building, which is owned by a leading bank."

The official added the company sends a tanker virtually every other day to preclude the possibility of sewage overflowing into the apartments, but accidents still occur on regular intervals.

Mohammed Khan, a tenant living along with his family on the ground floor, said: "The entire ground floor has a very bad drainage system, but three flats – one of which is next door to my flat – are really bad.

"The real estate company is not fixing the long-standing drainage problem, nor I am able to break the tenancy contract as the company does not allow it. My contract is due to expire soon and I will be out of this place anyway."

A.A. Nizam, another tenant who lives on the first floor, said: "My sister and her family lived on a ground floor apartment. When the drainage and dirt surfaced in her flat, she vacated the the next day. "The authorities should order such buildings be immediately vacated and direct real estate companies to offer better services. I assume rent includes such services."