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| Emergency? Dial 999. Dubai police helicopter will take only 8 minutes to reach you. |
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| Avoid taking photos of Muslim women and sensitive buildings and installations. Ask permission first. |
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| Time here is four hours ahead of GMT. And it does not change during the summer. |
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Waterlogged roads hit cabbies hard
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 As most of Sharjah’s roads ten |
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By
By Uroosa Asad
uroosa@eveningpost.ae
They say their companies hold them responsible for damages caused to cabs due to the rains
Dubai Sharjah’s waterlogged roads are making life difficult for both taxi drivers and commuters.
Taxi drivers say their companies make it almost impossible for them to drive on waterlogged roads as they will be held responsible for any damage caused to the cabs as a result of the rain. To avoid the puddles, they have to either not drive on particular routes or spend hours to reach a destination which normally takes a few minutes.
On the other hand, commuters complain that they are charged almost double the regular fare on rainy days. Some say cabbies simply refuse to take them.
“I work in Rolla in Sharjah and reside in camps near National Paints roundabout in Sharjah. On normal days by sharing a meter taxi with other three men, I pay five dirhams one way. But the day it rains some taxi drivers demand seven and some as much as ten dirhams,” says Jaideep Laxmidas, a regular commuter on taxis.
However, Khalid Mehmood, another commuter who also hires a cab regularly from Rolla is sympathetic towards the plight of taxi drivers.
“Taking into consideration the condition of the roads during rains, the traffic jams and several closed routes, anyone can guess how much time is wasted on the roads of Sharjah. Even then, most of them do not increase the fare to more then two to three dirhams. I am sure this does not meet their cost of dropping people to Dubai and industrial areas, especially with them usually having to return without any passengers,” says Mehmood.
Salahuddin, a Pakistani taxi driver says that on a rainy day very few cabbies work. “If on a normal day you will find 50 cabs in Rolla, on a rainy day you will find not more then 10. The reason is simple. We hardly make any money out of a single trip which instead of the usual 30 minutes takes two to three hours. Standing water also plays havoc with our engines. Taxis suffered the most on account of the heavy rains in Sharjah in the beginning of this month, even the meters were affected,” says Salahuddin.
Rafiq Nasir, an Indian taxi driver in Sharjah says that their company charges them for any damage to the car, even if it is a natural situation over which they have no control.
He says that if they refuse to take passengers on rainy days it is simply because they have instructions from their companies not to take the car in the water. As most of Sharjah is immersed in water on rainy days it becomes impossible for them to drive, and if anything happens to the engine they are in big trouble.
“One of my friends engine was seized because of rain water and his company has told him that they will cut Dh 5,000 from his salary. He is currently unable to drive his vehicle, and will not be able to earn anything for a while. How will a person, whose salary is based on commission, pay off Dh 5000 when he would not even be driving for several days,” asks Nasir.
He says that their salary is Dh 1,800, if they meet the target of Dh 8000 a month. However, many a times they end up with not more then
Dh 1000, as a small scratch on the car or accidents means minimum of Dh 300 cut from their salary despite the fact that all the cars are insured. |
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