Domino effect of rainy days haunts residents

The aftermath of the rainy days that the Kingdom witnessed two weeks ago are continuing, as three residential buildings were evacuated due to a landslide in Riffa recently.

Right on the edge of Hunainiya valley in East Riffa, uphill to Hunainiya cemetery, three buildings were evacuated, as part of the cliff that they’re built on collapsed due to the excessive rainwater flooding.

Municipal Representative of the area Mohammed Musa Al Balooshi confirmed that the residents of two of the building were given the permission to come back to their flats, while the third building remains empty as some fundamental damage was caused to it.

Al Balooshi said, “The reason behind the mishap that could have caused a disaster was because of the wrong methods of draining rainwater and bad sewerage networking in the area.” “The foundation of the area is weak, as it’s constructed on a cliff of a valley and the land isn’t durable enough to carry this weight,” Al Balooshi said.

He explained that a fence that was built earlier by Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry to siege the residential area from the downhill side that recently collapsed due to the rainwater.

“The collapse of the fence was an eye-opener, as cracks appeared on one of the buildings, which are fairly newly-built. As per the directives of the Ministry and the municipality, the three buildings were immediately evacuated, considering the safety of the residents,” he informed.

According to the councillor, concrete blocks were placed onsite to block cars from entering the area, in order to prevent any mishap.

Al Balooshi said: “The Ministry conducted an urgent study that resulted that only one building is in the danger zone and the other two buildings are absolutely safe and residents were reinstated in them.”

He affirmed that the Ministry informed Southern Municipal Council that it’s working on rehabilitating the ground, in order to strengthen its durability.

Cemetery affected 

On the other side, the floods descended down the hill to the cemetery in the valley, washing away around 100 graves. Al Balooshi clarified that new roads were paved inside the graveyard around eight years ago. “This resulted in rainwater accumulation in different areas of the cemetery and causing the collapsing of many graves, stirring anger among the people of Riffa,” the councillor elaborated.

He confirmed “that around 80 to 100 graves collapsed this year and the council and the Sunni Endowments Directorate in Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry have coordinated to rebuild the graves.

Photo Caption: One of the collapsed graves