CAIRO, Oct 24 (NNN-MENA) – Un-seasonal rainfall flooded large areas of Cairo, paralysing the city’s usually heavy traffic, delaying flights and forcing authorities to order schools and universities to close.
Five people, including three children, were electrocuted, in rain-related accidents, in three provinces in the Nile Delta north of Cairo, according to security officials.
Two of the children, aged nine and three, were electrocuted, when they came into contact with street lamps, said the officials.
The chaos caused by the overnight rain highlighted the city’s infrastructure problems and the perceived negligence of its local government.
The bustling city of 20 million people receives very little rainfall, but its rickety infrastructure is often exposed as unreliable, when it rains, with most of its streets becoming treacherously muddy or flooded. The overnight rain across the city lasted about an hour.
Lawmakers raised the issue of the rain’s impact on the city, on Wednesday, accusing the government of failing to have contingency plans in place, to deal with emergencies. “The country has drowned in an inch of water,” lamented lawmaker, Mohammed Al Massaoud, who requested answers from the government.
Another legislator, Hassan Bassiouny, said, “When will the government start preparing for weather changes and stop just reacting to them?”
The latest crisis in the city, whose genesis dates back to the time of the pharaohs, comes at a time when the construction of a new capital in the desert, east of Cairo, is proceeding at a rapid pace. Yet to be named, the new capital, a pet project of President Abdel-Fatah El Sisi, will be the seat of the presidency, the Cabinet and parliament. It will also feature a large arts and music complex, an amusement park and large green spaces. Foreign embassies have also been advised to move there.
The government insists that building the new capital would not derail or reduce efforts, to upgrade Cairo’s infrastructure and enhance its position as a major holiday destination, but the latest bout of rain-related mayhem has shown that a great deal of work still needs to be done.– NNN-MENA
