Why does the joy of rain become a source of misery in some of our cities?
Today, I travelled 500 metres in a car in one hour. This was just near my office in Al Safa. The street resembled a river. Cars were submerged in the flood waters. And the traffic? No comment.
I wished I would see a policeman directing and organising traffic flow. I didn’t see a single one. I wished I would see a civil defence officer helping people. I didn’t see a single one. I wished I would see a municipal team pumping water from the water-logged roads. Alas, I didn’t see any.
I am not accusing these departments. Perhaps, they were present somewhere else where the situation was really bad. Perhaps, they had given those areas priority,
But what I would emphasise is that the authorities did promise us that they are equipped to handle the rain. They said they had taken all possible measures to tackle the problem. These promises were made to residents in all newspapers, ours as well. The fact, however, is very different.
Just 10 minutes of rain saw chaos. The joy of rain evaporated when the sun rose again.
