A family leaving their car which got stuck in the flooded Qatar Decor underpass on Salwa Road following heavy rains yesterday. The picture is provided by a reader.

By Ramesh Mathew

Staff Reporter

 

The chink in Ashghal’s drainage system was exposed yesterday after incessant rains led to the flooding of a newly-opened underpass on the Salwa Road as well as many other streets in the country, leaving hundreds of motorists stranded for hours.

Several parts of the country, in particular Doha and its neighbourhoods, received good rains that started on Tuesday night and continued until yesterday afternoon. Many of the localities in and around Doha were waterlogged after the rains.

The flooding of the Qatar Decor tunnel resulted in motorists avoiding the arterial Salwa Road and the traffic spilling over to the sidelines, pocket and slip roads, creating a snarl in which hundreds of motorists were caught for several hours. The Midmac flyover and the roads leading to it too witnessed long queues of vehicles.

Several residents posted images of people trying to push their vehicles out of the flooded tunnel on community portals and social networks. Many of the vehicles were stranded on the road and some lay submerged in the accumulated water.

Ashghal, the Public Works Authority, swung into action immediately by deploying pumps and tankers to remove the water.  A statement issued by the authority blamed the flooding of the tunnel on the “incomplete underground drainage project” which, when finished, will streamline the water to the sea. 

Many inner roads and lanes in the city also experienced waterlogging. Residents of Umm Ghuwalina, Doha Jadeed and some localities of Najma, Mansoura, Al Hilal and Abu Hamour reported flooding. 

Workers living in the Industrial Area said the low-lying parts of street numbers 36, 37 and 38, and some of the adjoining localities on the eastern side were inundated.

Long lines of vehicles choked the Shamal Express way as the rain caused traffic jams on the busy route that connects Doha to the northern parts of the country. However, Al Khor received only light rain and life in the township was not affected.

Flooding during rains has continued to affect life in several areas of Doha, in spite of the government’s best efforts to address the problem. The flat topography of the land coupled with the stony crust that does not allow water to percolate down to the lower levels have made the task of the authorities harder.    

The Met office said there was still a chance of light and intermittent rain in the early hours in some parts of the county today. “Visibility will be poor with foggy conditions across the country.”  There will be a slight fall in the overall temperature.

 

Drainage project’s underground sea-link ‘yet to be built’

Ashghal, the Public Works Authority, said the Qatar Decor tunnel was flooded following the rain yesterday because the drainage project’s underground connection to the sea is yet to be built. “The  Salwa Road encompasses an efficient and deep water drainage system, including pipes with large diameters, providing high drainage capacity. However, as the project’s underground drainage connection to the sea through the Abu Hamour network is still not yet constructed, Salwa Road drainage network currently receives and stores surface water inside the pipes as a temporary procedure until the main drainage network is ready to streamline the water to the sea as planned. When these pipes reach its maximum capacity within a very short time due to heavy rains as was the case today, water suction pumps and tanks are immediately deployed to remove the  water to the nearest drainage network in order to reduce the water levels inside these pipes,” Ashghal said in a statement.