Man who lives in the clouds @ 465m high on Dubai Marina’s tallest tower

He spends half of his day in the clouds, sitting in a small air-conditioned cabin, perched up at around 425 metres -  a place he calls his “home”.

Meet the man sitting on top of Dubai's tallest crane (465 metres high), attached to Marina 101, now the tallest tower on Dubai Marina at 425 metres.

Hailing from Uttar Pradesh in India, Amit Kumar Sharma, 32-years old, has been working as crane operator for the past six years and currently works for TAV Construction, the contractor for the super high-rise tower.

“It’s my daily chore. I get to the cabin every morning at 5.30am and am there till 6pm. The first time I felt scared, but now have no such fears,” he tells Emirates 24|7.

Though he has a three-hour break every day, he loves to spend his time sitting in the cabin rather than come down to the ground.

“I take my breakfast and lunch with me. I ensure I drink almost 3-3.5 litres of water every day,” he says, revealing he has operated cranes on high-rise towers in Abu Dhabi and the World One Tower in Mumbai, India.

Amit Kumar Sharma, 32-years old, has been working as crane operator for the past six years

What have been his most spine-chilling experiences?

“One day a helicopter came very close to the crane, but the pilot realised and immediately moved away. Had I been moving the crane then there would have been an accident,” he reminisces.

The only entertainment in his cabin is his mobile phone, but he uses it only during his break and never while working.

The view from the crane.

“When I am working, I switch it off. There should not be a single distraction when I work as I have to give 100 per cent attention to my job.

“It’s only during my daily break I check my phone and my WhatsApp messages, but what I cherish the most is to look at the beautiful skyline of Dubai every day.”

The crane will take almost a month to disassemble, Kumar says. 

Setting the crown

Sahil Khan, Muzmal Shahzad and Tarik Jamel from Pakistan are part of the team that are fixing the claddings on the tower’s crown.

The view from the crane.

“We are working on fixing of the cladding. It’s a tough job,” they admit, with Jamel, who has worked on installing claddings on Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, disclosing they are not allowed to work on the crown if the wind speed is over 25kmph.

Marina 101 tops out

Asked when the tower will be handed over, Abuali Malik Shroff, Chairman, Sheffield Holdings Limited, told this website.

“Marina 101 is now topped out. We are working on the crown and it should be completed by September.”

The work on the tower commenced in 2008, but completion was delayed due to the global financial crisis.

Sahil Khan, Muzmal Shahzad and Tarik Jamel from Pakistan are part of the team that are fixing the claddings on the tower’s crown.

“We worked with our customers and we saw all of them staying with us. We worked hard to ensure that the tower is completed and now it’s nearing completion.”

Shroff plans to commence hand-over of units by end-December 2015, provided all the clearances are received from authorities.

All pics: Parag Deulgaonkar

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