Dubai gears up to cope with the wet weather

Dubai:  Dubai Municipality started its preparations for the rainy season from September by implementing its three-part extensive yearly programme.

Engineer Hassan Makki, Director of Sewerage and Irrigation Network Department at Dubai Municipality, said the first part of the programme includes opening and cleaning the large number of groundwater drains to ensure their readiness to drain if rain falls.

The second part is cleaning the ground pipes carrying drained water by using special high-pressure jet spray equipment that pumps water inside the pipes at a very high pressure.

The third part is implementing a precautionary and exceptional maintenance programme for all the stations that pump rainwater to the sea, Makki said.

"The areas suffering mostly from accumulation of rain water in the past years were naturally the ones that do not have drainage network facilities, and which are mostly areas still under development," Makki said.

Tackling the issue required alternative steps such as mobile pumps, tanks or both of them in some cases.

"The best way is specified by studying many factors, such as the nature of the area, the amount of accumulated water and ease of access to the concerned location," Makki said.

"Precautionary measures were taken to prevent this problem from happening again in these areas, because they are known to us now, by placing mobile pumps in these areas at the beginning of the rainy season," he added.

Meanwhile, an official at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said that the Emergency and Disaster Management teams at the authority are all set to cope with any emergency situation arising out of heavy rains and flooding.