Tuesday, Nov 12, 2013
Dubai: A water reservoir pipe burst and flooded Delhi Private School (DPS) premises on Tuesday, forcing the management to move the large fleet of buses outside.
The incident occurred at half past noon, an hour away from the daily closure time of the school. The school has a large Indian expatriate student population of 3,500.
The reservoir sits on a hillock overlooking the school and as the water gushed down it carried with it mud and sand into the bus parking area. Pupils were immediately barred from entering the ground.
“The fleet of buses were moved out from the parking ground to around the boundary of the school outside,” the spokesperson said. She said pupils then safely boarded the buses though the street outside was slushy and muddy.
Dubai Police helped control the traffic, she said. There is usually a huge traffic jam near the school every day as parents park their vehicles on the road to pick up their children at the end of the school day.
There is another school next door, Winchester, which has an equally large number of pupils. Winchester School immediately sent an SMS to parents at around 1pm warning that traffic congestion and a delay in the departure of buses should be expected.
This school also mobilised all its staff and managed to get the buses to leave on time. “There was no disruption ,” a staffer said.
Dubai Water and Electricity (Dewa) maintenance staff soon arrived and shut off the valve controlling the water flow.
The muddy waters flowed down the street to the back of Ibn Battuta Mall and cars were seen zipping down showering pedestrians with the dirty water. Huge pools of water collected behind the China section of the mall.
Nakheel, the real estate developer that manages The Gardens, where the schools and the mall are located, said the clean-up operation is under way and that it will pump out the water as soon as possible.
By Mahmood Saberi ?Senior Reporter
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
