DOHA: The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ yesterday said that there were no technical or design defects behind water overflow at Lebsayyer Interchange (Interchange 42) on Dukhan Highway on September 11 and blamed heavy unusual rainfall for flooding.
“After technical studies, it was clear to us that there were no technical or design defects in the mentioned interchange, but the heavy and unusual rainfall on the road and surrounding area that exceeded the network’s design capacity prevented it from coping with big amount of water,” said Eng. Nasser bin Ali Al Mawlawi, President of Ashghal in a press conference organised to clarify on the water overflow.
The President pointed out that the Public Works Authority maintains a policy in place to make sure that any incident is looked into and investigated before providing any technical data so as to ensure that accurate answers are given. He also emphasized that although there are no defaults in design, the authority still requested concerned departments to re-evaluate the design and prepare a comprehensive report.
The President mentioned that a meeting was held in the presence of Minister of Municipality and Urban Planning H E Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa Al Thani and municipality directors to discuss the emergency procedures that aim to reduce the impacts associated with such incidents.
Among the procedures discussed is the need for the presence of representatives from Ashghal at the National Command Centre in emergency situations as well as the deployment of emergency equipment such as water pumps and tankers in different locations in the country to reach the intended location faster rather than launching from one single location.
He added that Ashghal is a responsible government body that is supervised and controlled by the concerned government entities, and it does not hesitate to transparently acknowledge any mistake and take action against any party that underperforms. Ashghal is also ready to submit any reports in this regards or for the concerned government entities to investigate the issue, he said.
He said that water overflow that took place in 2012 was in a different location that is 5km away from Lebsayyer Interchange, and Ashghal dealt with it when it happened very transparently, and acknowledged that there was a design mistake. Action was taken against the responsible party, and Ashghal also took action on site back then.
The Peninsula
