Friday 27 / December / 2024
Muscat: Long hours of power outage in the Governorate of Muscat on Monday, 5th September, put citizens and residents to great inconvenience, in houses as well as on roads, in the extreme Summer heat.
There were long rows of cars at busy intersections and motorists had a difficult time negotiating their way out of the traffic jams.
Saeed Al Ameri from the Wilayat of Seeb in the Governorate of Muscat, said: “I was on my way to the university. I saw an unprecedented congestion at one of the traffic lights. I thought it was an accident. Cars were honking their horns in every direction.
“I got out of my car to see what the problem was and to my dismay, found that the traffic lights were off. On one of the sidewalks, cops were trying to make way for other cars at a place where two vehicles had collided in the absence of traffic signals.”
Al Amiri continues: “I presumed that this particular signal was mal-functional. But my presumption was wrong…the outage had affected wider areas in Muscat. It was a difficult situation. All the time the Sun beat cruelly on us.”
Nasser Al-Wahaibi from the Wilayat of Muttrah in the Governorate of Muscat said: As usual, I had gone to one of the malls in the Governorate near my house for shopping when power snapped and the entire mall was engulfed in darkness. Suddenly, I heard a scream from the elevator…apparently, because the elevator came to a standstill. Securitymen rushed towards it. The scene was very frightening with the people screaming and rushing towards the exits and children crying. It was a difficult moment.”
Nasra Al Hinai from the Wilayat of Baushar in the Governorate of Muscat said: “I left work around 1:30 in the afternoon. There were traffic jams at all intersections, car collisions at some and policemen present everywhere trying to streamline traffic. I stood for a long time at one of the traffic lights. But, for how long? I was on way to pick up my 7-year-old son from school, all the while thinking about his hapless condition in the midst of darkness all around.”
Nasra continues: “I saw one of the citizens getting out of his car and heading towards traffic lights. The cars moved a little and finally I got out of the melee. In fact, it was because of a young man who helped ease the congestion and and let me out of the confusion.”
Walid Al-Ghasani from the Wilayat of Seeb in the Governorate of Muscat also spoke about his inconvenience saying, “I had gone to meet a friend in one of the cafes in Ruwi area, and we were chatting when the power snapped. Half an hour passed, and there was still no sign of power returning. The heat became unbearable. We decided to leave the place me for my residence, but I was running out of fuel and on the way, stopped at a gas station. But the crowd of cars were such, that the wait seemed to be endless.”
Al-Ghasani continues: “I watched the station workers declaring the station’s closure. In the end, I had to ring up my brother to come and fetch me as my car was running out of fuel.”
“I parked my car in one of the station’s parking lots, and I went back with my brother to my home only to find that my home too was without electricity. Besides there was the Summer heat. And, my mother who is a diabetic and also suffers from blood pressure was in extreme discomfort.”
