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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 July 1999 Issue No. 437
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Focus Books Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters It wasn't Venice
By Fatemah FaragAt a little past 12 noon on Monday, a four-year-old water-pipe burst, flooding the streets, sidewalks, stores and offices on the side of Tahrir Square adjoining the downtown area. But this was not Venice. And as the water rose 50 centimeters high, not only was the traffic congestion compounded, but electricity was also cut off and stores and parked cars, as well as the meagre wares of impoverished street vendors, became subject to various degrees of damage.
"The burst produced no sound, nothing," said Mohamed, who sells newspapers at a corner across from the gaping muddy hole where the offending pipe lay fractured in two. "By 1.30pm, the whole area had been flooded with muddy water." As he spoke, he continued to hang damp copies of the Independent and Wall Street Journal -- expensive merchandise for him -- on a rope to dry.
Anyone who has witnessed the consequences of a small shower of rain on Cairo's streets can imagine the mess people found themselves in. Facilities are obviously inadequate to deal with such situations and the ability of the authorities to react is not always as prompt as those suffering the ramifications would like.
In an attempt to avoid the rapidly rising waters, pedestrians climb fences while motorists brave the deluge
photos: Mustafa El-Senoussi
"Despite the fact that governorate officials were notified immediately, it took them until 3.45pm to shut down the water supply," complained Atef Ghorab, the owner of a perfume shop in front of the Egyptian Museum. "As a result, our shops were damaged, not to mention the fact that we have not been able to operate because of the loss of electricity as well."
Inhabitants of the area claim that not only was corrective action slow, but that the whole incident could have been avoided if proper pre-emptive action had been taken earlier. "A week ago, the area above the pipe caved in and the governorate sent trucks and workmen to fix it. It was clear that the pipe was cracking," claimed Ghorab. "It took them five hours at the time to do a patch-up job. If officials did not sit in their offices and spent more time on location, they might have realised that greater efforts were required to deal with the situation, saving us all a lot of trouble," he added.
Standing on the brink of the wet and black hole, Maj Gen Hassanien Hafez El-Shehawi, head of the governorate's water department, oversaw an array of bulldozers, ominous-looking equipment and workers. "Look at us," he exclaimed, pointing at himself and the some 50 men running the operation. "We've been here all night clearing up the water and fixing the damage as quickly as possible. Yet what everyone wants to do is complain." Twenty-four hours after the burst, the traffic jams were relatively under control and the streets were mostly dry. In a nearby parking lot, in the noon heat, a worker was removing water from the tell-tale puddle with a bright orange bucket.
Governorate officials have stated that the reasons for the fracture could be many. It could have been vibrations from the heavy traffic or the underground metro. El-Shehawi was impatient on details. "It just broke, pipes break -- everywhere. Like somebody who walks down a street and suddenly drops dead. Is there a reason for that? It just happens," he argued.
A few metres away, Tarek El-Masri demonstrates the damage which the water inflicted on his cigarette kiosk. On the fence of a garage behind him he had piled packages of Cleopatra cigarettes in the sun to dry. He looked sadly on, commenting, "Probably won't be able to sell those."
El-Masri described the whole affair as a "black joke."
"Of course, no one will compensate us for these losses, just like the poor people who found their cars in horrible shape in the garage. And to think, it could have all been avoided had officials done their job properly."
