An underground pipeline breach was reported yesterday from Street 37 of the Industrial Area for the second time in less than 24 hours, leaving vast stretches of the street logged with muddy and sewage waters. Residents in the area fear there could be more pipeline bursts in the neighbourhood as most pipelines are old and suffer from poor maintenance. The deplorable conditions of some of the streets in the Industrial Area, including Street 37, housing many major food grain godowns, were extensively reported in this columns more than once in the past month. Residents in the densely populated area claim no attention has been paid for several years in undertaking repairs and maintenance of roads and the area has one of the poorest physical infrastructures in the country. The latest breach virtually inundated a vast stretch and vehicles stayed away to reduce risks of getting stuck in the middle. Operators of food grains storehouses in the neighbouring streets fear that the spillage of sewage water from yesterday’s burst could compound the woes of their staffers and residents in the neighbourhood, which were also in the news for the intermittent flooding of sewage water, garbage and human wastes in recent weeks. “At this rate, operators of trailers, carrying foodstuffs and other goods coming from outside the country may refuse to come to the area in coming weeks,” said the manager of a food stuffs company. Company operators said they are looking for a permanent solution to the problem that they say “could be ensured only when all roads in the neighbourhood are repaired on a war footing.” Though sewage water is drained out at intervals from some of the streets severely affected by recurring underground pipe bursts, the situation remains more or less the same and the movement of vehicles as well as pedestrians often becomes next to impossible in the area. There are also reports that garbage trucks are refusing to ply to some of the affected streets owing to their deplorable conditions. When the issue was pointed out to a senior official at Ashghal recently, he said major revamping works are scheduled to start shortly in the Industrial Area. Gulf Times

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