When a burst water mains continues to gush for a day, flooding adjacent areas, whose fault is it? Nobody's, as usual, discovers Mohamed El-Sayed Last Friday, at around 6pm, Milad, the 60-year-old owner of a beauty parlour, phoned the Greater Cairo Water Company to report that a mains pipe had burst in Street 9 in Hadaiq Al-Maadi and water was flooding everywhere. He was told by whoever answered the phone that it was none of the water company's business. He repeated his pleas for help, only to be met by the same stonewalling on the part of the water company employee. After venting his frustration with a few choice expletives he then returned to his wife and together they continued their attempts to empty their salon of the flood water, which had reached a depth of one metre. Dozens of similar conversations took place between other residents of the area as they telephoned whatever government agencies they assumed were responsible for the flooding. Yet no one was prepared to do anything, not even the local members of parliament. Water continued to gush from the burst mains for seven hours. Then, finally, help arrived, a single truck that began pumping water from the worst affected area only for its pump to promptly break down. The truck then drove away. The result? Millions of pounds worth of damage to goods in shops and to property, thousands of residents unable to leave their homes for two days and the water supply being cut for three days: life came to a quasi standstill in one of Cairo's most vibrant districts, home to many large businesses and foreign embassies, until the water supply resumed late on Monday. For seven hours the area was on the brink of a much larger, manmade disaster, as seeping water threatened to inundate the underground stations of Hadaik Al-Maadi and Dar Al-Salam. "I was on board an underground train when I saw water pouring into the station," says Milad's wife. "I thought all the commuters would die if the water caused an electric shock." Underground officials have since revealed that stations are not designed to meet flood conditions. Shop owners are still counting their losses. "The water caused LE20,000 worth of damage," the owner of a shoe shop told Al-Ahram Weekly. "And for the third consecutive day I haven't made a single sale." The owner of a nearby Internet café said most of his computers had been ruined by the flood. Building owners complain that their basements were flooded. "It was only after three days that the authorities came to pump water from beneath my building," said one, adding that he feared during that time the foundations might collapse. "I can barely feed my children. How could I afford to buy dozens of bottles of mineral water to meet my family needs," said one angry resident of the low income district that bore the brunt of the flooding. Those who couldn't afford bottled water had to go in search for a tap in neighbouring districts to fulfil their water needs. Water officials blamed the flooding on anything and everything apart from their own negligence and failure to deal with the crisis. Mohamed Abdel-Zaher, chairman of Greater Cairo Water Company, insists that the pipe was in good condition. It was, he said, installed just 20 years ago and its operating life is 40 years. "Most probably the burst pipe was due to heavy loads placed over the pipe," he claimed. Residents of the area blame the burst mains on recent renovation work by the water company nearby. Meanwhile, Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazir has appointed a committee comprising university professors to investigate the causes behind the burst and subsequent inundation. None of which is likely to help shop owners and local residents, concerned with who is going to pay for the damage inflicted on their homes and businesses. Some shop owners have already filed lawsuits against the water company. Others, however, say they have no hopes of compensation. "Which agency should we ask for compensation?" wondered Milad. "I will not ask for it since nobody will treat the petition seriously, not the municipal council, not the water company."
