Dubai Municipality response to rain woes prompt — official

Dubai: The contact centre at Dubai Municipality received as many as 2,165 calls during the three days of rain last week, and the average waiting time for each call from customers was 59 seconds.

There were a total of 728 reports from the public, mostly regarding blocked drains and requests for removal of fallen trees on the main roads.

Additional employees were called in to help out.

Reports were directed to the concerned departments according to their importance and the centre focused on the removal of rain water on the main roads in vital areas. Priority was given to highways, where water or fallen trees affected traffic flow.

Khalid Abdul Rahim Abdullah, director of Customer Relations department, said most reports dealt with the drainage of sewage water.

Pumps and tankers belonging to the municipality and workers were dispatched to drain rain water in different areas. These included Al Rashidiya, Abu Hail, Al Barsha, Shaikh Zayed Road and Emirates Road.

The official said some people complained about the delay in attending to their request.

Drainage

However, he said the municipality acted promptly when it received calls requesting the drainage of rain water.

In most cases, the response time was three minutes. Due to the volume of calls, the municipality was unable to respond immediately to all of them, he said.

Abdullah said Dubai Municipality does not spare any effort in helping the public during emergency situations occurring in the rainy season.

Dubai Police reported 987 accidents during the two-day period of rain due to reckless driving and speeding.

Of the 987 accidents, 41 serious traffic accidents were reported on December 12 and 13.

Most of these accidents were a result of speeding, with six different accidents resulting in injuries, based on statistics from the department.