Power outage disconnects life in many areas of Sharjah

Sharjah: Residents were appalled Saturday when they found themselves faced with a power outage yet again that lasted for nearly six hours straight.

In some areas the power outage lasted until 3am on Sunday, residents told Gulf News.





The power outage on Saturday affected many buildings in nearly all of the industrial areas, as well as some commercial areas including Al Maraijah, Al Nahda, Al Arouba Street, Bu Daniq area and the areas near Al Wahda Street.

Shops and supermarkets said that they lost a great deal of income in the last few days as a result of the power cut, and shopkeepers had no other choice but to write invoices and receipts by hand instead of using the cash register.

Traffic lights in Industrial Areas 3, 4, 5, and 6 also stopped functioning due to the power outage and Anjad police patrols closed off the intersections and diverted traffic, which in turn caused a heavy traffic jam for motorists heading from Dubai and into Sharjah.

Stuck in a lift

"The power went off from 1am to 3am, and then it went off again from 10am till the afternoon, and someone living in the building got stuck in the elevator," Mohsen, a resident from Al Nahda, said.

Jitendra Gupte, who lives near National Paints roundabout, said that power was disconnected from 8am to 1.15pm, and was left without any response when he called the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority hotline 991.

"Because of the electricity fluctuations I will probably go to Dubai because my family cannot keep living in such conditions. The children were unable to take a bath the whole morning and the rooms were becoming very hot," he said.

"The electricity went off from 9am to 2pm, and my seven-month-old son was left wearing nothing but his diapers. Every year we face the same problem...but once my tenancy contract expires this August I will definitely leave the building and find a reasonable place to live in Dubai," Mohammad Nadeem Khan, a resident of Industrial Area 17, said.