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Outage fuels more chaos in Sharjah

Hot got hotter in Sharjah on Sunday with power disruptions occurring for the third day in a row.

Harried residents, some on the road because the air-conditioned interiors of their cars proved more reliable, were caught in tedious traffic snarls as road signals went on the blink.

Frequent outage and their effect on traffic lights caused gridlocks on various roads, intersections and bridges. Most intersections located near the border with Dubai were closed down and Anjad patrols were deployed to divert traffic to alternative routes.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed bin Darwish, Director of the Patrolling Department of the Sharjah Police, said traffic jams were mainly caused by the closure of Al Nahda intersection.

“The traffic signal at Al Nahda intersection was not operating due to the electricity disconnections, and we had to close the intersection, which is considered one of the roads with heavy traffic,” he said.

“Anjad patrols have been dispatched to all those intersections where the signals stopped operating and we are working hard to bring back normalcy on roads. The closure of Al Nahda intersection forced motorists to use alternative routes, leading to more jams on the other roads”

Motorists using Wendi Road, Al Khan bridge and King Faisal bridge were stuck on the way to work.

Power went off at around 9am in some areas and was not restored till 2.30pm. In other areas, it went off at 2.30pm and was restored only at 6pm, residents said.

Resident Abu Naseer A Bana said he spent four hours on Al Wahda Street because the traffic signal went dead. Another motorist, Ali Atabani, said he was stranded for one hour to just get past a blank signal near Home Center in Industrial Area 1.

Traffic was not the only area of distress. The Sharjah Department of Civil Defence received many calls pertaining to people trapped in lifts. They were all rescued.

Wahid Al Serkal, Director General of Sharjah Department of Civil Defence, said rescue units were well prepared to respond to any emergency during power outage to help residents trapped in lifts.

In the absence of power and phone lines being down, business took a hit. Mohammed Al Haj, a Syrian who works in a family-owned furniture company in Industrial Area 4, said business had been affected for the last three days.

“The telephone lines are down,” Al Haj said. “Without phones, there is no work and no money. Most of our sales depend on calls. The company had to rent an expensive generator.”

Hatem Al Faris, a Palestinian resident in Al Majaz, expected outage in the coming days. “We had electricity last night,” he said. “But the shutdown might shift to our area.”

Ameenah Elbarrani, a Canadian resident of Maliha area said this was a daily problem and wanted the authorities to take action. “I woke up to find the electricity was cut, she said. “As it was extremely hot, I had to leave the house for the day. I got back home around 9pm and was shocked to find most of my refrigerated food spoilt. The Municipality must notify Sharjah residents.”

On Saturday, Rolla, Shuwahen, Al Nahda, Abu Shagara, Butina, Al Qasimiya, Al Nabba, and most of the Industrial Area went through a harrowing experience for nine to 18 hours. The lights came back at 3am, only to go again at 9am in Al Mussala, Maysalon, Ajizzat, Al Nasserya, and Butina.

Hospitals and commercial outlets in Al Mussala and Rolla, had to use generators, Civil defence and Police Head quarters were also affected and hooked up to generators.—

— news@khaleejtimes.com