Heavy rainfalls result in flooded roads in Male’ City

Rain can be a blessing to many and a curse to others. When it comes to people who reside in Male’ City, while rain may feel like a peaceful moment where one can embrace the beauty of water droplets hitting the trees and falling onto the pavement, the aftermath of rain is often not as poetic. 

The aftermath of rain is one of the worst times to step out into the roads of Male’ city. Due to poor city planning, extreme congestion, the severe issues of stray cats and their litter, and the congested drainage system, it is unbearable to step outside after a heavy downpour. 

Roads get flooded very quickly, and before you know it the rainwater is above your ankle and you can feel bits and pieces of trash grazing against your feet as you try to walk to your destination as fast as possible. With the unattended and poorly managed trash on the side of the roads and the excessive amounts of cat litter, one can only guess how contaminated the water on the road is after a downpour. 

The reason for the flooding can only be blamed on the poor road construction and mismanagement of it. With the drainage systems often filled to the brim with trash, there is no way for the rainwater to seep out, resulting in people being forced to walk in these contaminated waters. Regardless of how smelly or disgusting it is, schools and offices do not get closed and life goes on. And while this may seem like the worst thing that can happen after a period of heavy rainfall, many households suffer a much worse fate than just stepping out into the contaminated waters. 

During the late hours of last night, 1st April 2023 there was a heavy storm resulting in a really bad downpour in Male’ City. As a result, the roads of Male’ City were un-walkable today, with the district of Maafannu facing the worst of it.

Following the downpour, during the time of Ramadan, people in households in Maafannu were clueless as to what they should do as the contaminated waters seeped into their households, ruining furniture and making it difficult for them to cook or even use the bathroom.

According to some local media outlets, a citizen of Maafannu stated that they are unable to use the bathrooms in the house and the whole house is still flooded following the rainfall. 

While this is nothing new, it appears that the state is still not prepared to deal with the consequences of heavy rainfall, and it is only the citizens who get badly affected by it as expensive furniture gets destroyed and the functions of a household come to a standstill every single time there is a heavy downpour. 

Every time there is a similar heavy downpour, the Maldives National Defence Forces (MNDF) are dispatched to try and help households that are getting flooded with the contaminated water, however, according to the citizen talking to local newspaper, the response is not fast enough and the MNDF officers often arrive after the damage is already done. 

According to MNDF, their officers started trying to control the situation around 8:30 am local time, however, there are still many households who are struggling as a result of the downpour.

While it is expected that rainfall would bring some issues whether it is in the Maldives or anywhere else, having households come to a complete halt and properties getting destroyed to this level every time there is a downpour is unacceptable. Though the Government cannot control the weather or how heavily it rains, there are so many measures that they can take in order to assure the devastation after rainfall does not reach such levels.