Dubai: Ramadan cannons to announce iftar are ready for Ramadan and will be fired from six places across the city, the Dubai Police revealed on Tuesday.
Major General Mohammad Saeed Al Merri, assistant commander-in-chief of Community Happiness at Dubai Police, said the cannons will be fired to announce the start of Ramadan on the first day and daily at iftar time.
“The cannons will be placed in six areas across the city. It has been a tradition in the UAE to use cannons to announce iftar every day,” Major General Al Merri said.
Each cannon will be fired once every day to announce iftar and twice in a row to announce Eid — the end of Ramadan.
The Dubai Police cannons are British-made PDR MK1L Cannons 25, which use 25mm calibre ammunition and has a sound range of 170 decibels which can be heard 10km away. The cannons were made in 1945.
They can be seen during Ramadan near Deira prayer grounds, Al Karama Prayer ground, Zayed Bin Mohammad Centre in Al Mizhar, Mina Al Salam in Jumeirah, Burj Khalifa and the City Walk. A cannon fires a blank cartridge that only contains black powder.
“The cannons have become one of the local symbols of Ramadan, and tour companies are adding them as part of tourist attraction in the city,” said Al Merri.
