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Hisham Aljundi
Doha
Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani visited the Public Works Authority's (Ashghal) control room in Doha following the unprecedented rains throughout the country on Saturday.
He oversaw the operations of the emergency teams to clear the rainwater from the roads and other public places and limit the impact of the downpour.
The rainfall that Qatar received on Saturday was three times greater then the usual average, Minister of Municipality and Environment HE Mohammed bin Abdullah al Rumaihi said.
Highlighting the rain-mitigation efforts initiated by the ministry, Rumaihi said,"All roads and tunnels will be cleared by the morning (on Sunday)."
All pumps in the sewage networks and drainage systems are working well, he said, adding that it would take some time for the large quantities of water to be completely pumped out.
The volume of rainfall is much greater than expected at this time of the year, he said. The ministry has deployed more than 450 tankers and 85 pump-mounted vehicles to drain the water from the roads, the minister added.
Abu Hamour, Muaither and Madinat Khalifa were some of the worst-hit areas, with water level reaching around 86mm in those places. It usually does not exceed 30 mm.
However, the minister stressed that the situation was under control."There will be continuous follow-up around the clock," he assured.
The minister said the various municipalities worked in coordination and were able to respond to 500 distress calls to Ashghal from areas including Al Shamal , Al Khor, Al Wakra and Al Shahaniya during the rain.
Ashghal Chairman Dr. Eng. Saad bin Ahmed al Mohannadi said the volume of rain that fell during the day outweigh the volume of rain Doha received in the whole year.
He pointed out that coordination continues between the ministries of the municipality, environment and interior during the rainy season through the National Command Center (NCC), which brings together all service providers in the country.
"In order to reduce the effects of the rains, work is underway to expand the drainage network through the establishment of a seaport as part of the Mesaimeer tunnel project, which will be completed in 2020. At the moment, we are working hard to work out 24 hours to solve the problems of water harvesting in the main roads by morning (on Sunday)," he said.
He pointed out that the Public Works Authority is working to develop permanent solutions for the draining of rainwater.
The Mesaimeer tunnel will become functional after the completion of an estuary, which will absorb surface water from sub-networks located in different locations, stretching over 170 square kilometres. It will reduce rainwater pools, especially in the tunnels.
