By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter

The recent rains have added to the woes of people living in Doha’s Industrial Area.
Residents of this densely populated locality have for long been coping with problems such as “poor drainage” and “accumulation of sewage water” in their neighbourhood. The rains have only made matters worse for them, it is learnt.
Residents of some housing units in the Industrial Area have reported continuous flooding of sewage water in their localities, which they say do not have proper drainage facilities. They further claim that though the matter has been repeatedly raised with the authorities concerned, a permanent solution is yet to be found.
“As a result, residents of some camps find it difficult to step out of their accommodation even when it is not raining. And when it rains, it becomes almost impossible for people to move out of the place,” said a resident of Street 38.
Airing similar views, an elder resident of an accommodation unit on Street 49 said there has been water-logging in the area for around a week and things have gone from bad to worse following Wednesday’s rainfall.
Several vehicles, especially those carrying foodstuff to storehouses (including trailers), have broken down in the middle of a street in recent months because of the “atrocious road conditions”, it is learnt. The vehicle operators feel there could be more such breakdowns during the rainy season. Most of the food warehouses are located in areas falling between Street 36 and Street 38.
It has also been found that overflowing sewage tanks in larger accommodation units are another major concern for residents, besides lack of proper drainage as well as poor street lighting.
The piling up of garbage and frequent abandoning of old vehicles are some of the other major problems faced by residents of the Industrial Area. “The current rainy spell has compounded our woes. If there is similar rainfall in the next few days, pedestrian movement will be virtually impossible,” said a resident of Street 36, recalling that the situation was as bad during the corresponding period last year.
Many accommodation units, it is understood, do not get sewage tankers on a daily basis and overflowing of sewage water has been reported from such camps. It happens mostly in the neighbourhood of places that house a large number of workers, according to sources.