Gardens flood: Clean-up on; owners tow cars

Even the scorching 48-degree temperatures at high noon did not halt the clean-up operations that are underway in The Gardens community, as workers toiled away in the heat to help return the neighbourhood to normalcy.

Meanwhile, several people were busy coordinating with tow truck operators to haul out their broken down vehicles, while others simply left their car doors open to let the sun dry up the water that had seeped inside on Thursday night, when a water main burst in front of building 5, sending hot flood waters into the community.

R Kutty, who was busy coordinating his car’s journey to a nearby garage, said: “I am helpless. My car was caught in the flood, the engine has stalled and now I have no choice but to have it towed to a garage to have it looked over. I don’t have a clue what the problem may be or what the cost of repair will be,” adding that his car’s insurance company would be the next place he visits.

Next to his car was another vehicle, with its doors left open to dry up the interior, with the front bumper smashed and hanging off the edge.

Nearly 15 feet away, another tow truck was busy hauling out a black SUV.

The white Chevrolet Aveo, with an Abu Dhabi licence plate, remains wedged in the crevice of the footpath, as tractors rolled by in cleaning up the debris.

Unsettled residents

Building number 5 resident Rajat Kataria was forced to abandon his home for three nights, which was inaccessible by car with ‘Ground Zero’ being barricaded over the weekend as contractors worked round the clock to replace the exploded pipe.

Kataria said: “We were in Ibn Battuta Mall on Thursday evening and were oblivious to what was going on outside until we exited the cinemas around 12.30am. Suddenly we found pools of water everywhere and police and emergency vehicles passing by.”

The production head at a radio station said he spent the next two hours trying to reach home, which is a mere 15 minutes’ walk from the mall, but diversions were already in place and he simply couldn’t go beyond the Winchester School roundabout.

He continued: “I considered abandoning my car and walking home, but some areas had no street lighting and I wasn’t very comfortable with the idea of trekking in the dark and falling into a pothole in these floods. So, left with no choice, I drove to Dubai Marina and crashed at a friend’s home.”

Kataria made another attempt on Friday afternoon to head home, but with Exit 27 barricaded on Sheikh Zayed Road and “crazy traffic” at Exit 29, he decided to turn his car around and head to his friend’s home a second time.

A third attempt was made on Saturday, but all Kataria witnessed was logjams, upturned trash cans and chaos within the Gardens community itself; he decided to move back home on Sunday, when things would be relatively calmer.

Media man Dev Haldar who decided to stay indoors rather than face the chaotic conditions in his neighbourhood.

“From my balcony window all I saw during this weekend were a string of cars, stuck bumper-to-bumper, within this small community,” he said. “With many roads still closed and reports of water clogging some areas, I felt best to stay indoors until the chaos ended.”

Ana-Lynn Lendos complained that lack of information from authorities and no alternative routes to enter and exit the neighbourhoods simply added to the mayhem on Friday night.

She said: “I went out for a grocery run to Geant on Friday evening, choosing to walk from building 48, rather than take my car into the chaos. But I was almost run down by a car, which aggressively drove onto a dirt track and the pavement when the driver realised the roundabout leading towards the cinemas had been barricaded.

“Other drivers  followed suit and there was not a single member from Nakheel or the police to control this madness on the streets. Someone could have been seriously hurt,” said Lendos.

Bharti Anand, a mother of two, said she decided to take her children to the mall instead, saying pulling the car out in Friday evening’s chaos “didn’t seem like a wise decision; so we walked over to Ibn Battuta for dinner and a movie.

“However, an hour in, my five-year-old daughter needed to use the facilities and we discovered that there was no running water in the mall’s bathrooms. Left with no choice, we abandoned plans and ran home.”

While residents were returning to some level of normalcy on Sunday, the right turn towards Ibn Battuta Mall, when getting off the flyover from Exit 27, remains barricaded; as is the road that connects to Discovery Gardens in front of the cinemas.
However, access to the mall from Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel is open and commuters can also access the Dubai Metro Station or utilise the feeder buses.

Meanwhile, several of the workers who have been working in 12-hour shifts to clean-up the debris, were hopeful that the streets should be clear again by Monday evening.

Earlier report

Jebel Ali Gardens, Discovery main exit to Sheikh Zayed Road opens

A Nakheel spokesperson told Emirates 24|7 that contractors have been appointed to carry out repairs to roadworks and pavements in the Gardens area.

A clean-up operation is already underway, but it will take a few more days to clean up the community totally.

Residents of, and commuters to and from the Jebel Ali Gardens and Discovery Gardens area will be glad to wake up this morning to news that the main exit to Sheikh Zayed Road is now open.

The exit had been closed since Thursday night after a major water pipe burst in the Gardens community.

Motorists taking the Discovery Gardens exit from Sheikh Zayed will, however, not be able to take a right towards Ibn Battuta Mall as the road is closed for repairs.

A few cars are still parked on the main road, next to the exit from Discovery Gardens to Jumeirah Lakes Towers with car owners having placed visiting cards on their respective dashboards.

Gardens residents will heave a sigh of relief as motorists were taking the Jebel Ali Village exit through the Gardens.

“We could see from our windows a beeline of cars. Mostly, the roads are empty in the evening, but for the past two days there was traffic,” said Sumati Sinha, a resident of Gardens.

The Gardens is still I need of a major clean-up with sand and mud on the roads.

“It’s dirty, but I saw people cleaning the streets yesterday. I think it will take some more days to clean the mess,” Rohit Desai, a resident, said.

According to residents, water has been restored to the Gardens buildings.

Public services restored

While an official statement is still being awaited from the Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai, a call to its helpline confirmed that the public services are back to normal in the Jebel Ali Gardens and Discovery Gardens neighbourhoods.

A customer representative said that while some bus routes had been delayed yesterday, all bus services are back to normal and on time from Sunday.

Meanwhile, services and road access to the Ibn Battuta metro station has also been restored, with the rep confirming that feeder buses have also been reinstated.

The road directly in front of the metro station had been cordoned off by authorities, which led to the district cooling station where a fire occurred early Friday morning due to a short circuit in the transformer cable.

Insurance, compensation…

Car owners, who saw their vehicles being submerged in water, are now seeking answers on how to claim insurance.

R Harris tweeted: "What is the compensation for car damages?

“I am clueless as to how will I be compensated for my loss. I will be calling my car insurance company to check the procedure. It would have been good had the authorities clarified the procedure for insurance claim,” another resident asked.

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