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Pipe burst floods mall area Nivriti Butalia / 20 July 2013 Weekend plans to visit Ibn Batuta Mall were severely disrupted for some by a water pipe that burst on Thursday and was still causing problems on Friday evening — leaving hundreds of motorists trapped in traffic. The burst pipe released a torrent of water that submerged cars, stranded visitors and rendered the main road unusable, when it was unleashed about 9.30pm on Thursday. At 3.30pm on Friday, there was a line of at least 100 cars on the way to Ibn Batuta. Exit 25 of Shaikh Zayed Road was a congested mess, with cars along the right-most lanes turning towards the Gardens and Jebel Ali village coming to an almost standstill, while traffic on the other three lanes on the left were zipping along as usual. Discovery Gardens resident Ruel Pableo, who was stuck in the congestion for almost half-an-hour, said the main road exiting Discovery Gardens, next to the mall, was still flooded. Police had cordoned off the main road with police tape, rerouting traffic through to the second exit — a much narrower and indirect thoroughfare. “Most people didn’t know what was going on, because it happened so late at night.” He said it was just like a “morning rush” on a Friday afternoon. He could still see some of the remaining water on the main road from the incident that happened a day before. A trip that would usually take 10 minutes took him more than three times the duration because the route was much more indirect. Although the mall had issued no formal statement, there were fewer cars in the parking lot on Friday. Two of the mall security guards told Khaleej Times that while there was definitely no rush at all, this may or may not have been due to the floods. One of the guards, who left work at 1am, said when he got on to the road on his way back home to Ghusais, he felt he was “on an island — there was that much water everywhere. It’s an unusual sight in these parts”. On his way to work on Friday morning, the company bus had to take a different route to reach the mall. Taxi drivers were heard refusing to ferry customers along the stretch of Shaikh Zayed Road that involved exits 25 and 27, advising people instead to use the trains and save time otherwise doomed to be spent on the road in traffic. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority VP — Marketing and Corporate Communications Khawla Al Mehairi said the flooding was due to a “breakage” in one of the lines. “However, we responded fast and the matter was under control. The main cause is still unknown and the matter is under investigation. However, the water services supply is not impacted because our system is very reliable and the area won’t suffer from any water shortage.” When contacted for further detail, an authority spokesman refused but said more information would be forthcoming once the investigation had been conducted. nivriti@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading →