Oman - Wadi

Unlike what we know of desserts, it rains quite a lot in Muscat and its suburbs. When it rains, it rains hard, and the rain water flows through the valley between the hills. This river is called “Wadi” in local dialect.

And there is no drainage system outside Muscat. While you travel on these roads you will see a lot Wadi crossing, and only in certain places where the predicted flow is high, you will see a bridge built across. On all other occasions the Wadi is allowed to cross the road, by building the road beneath the Wadi level. So when it rains and rains hard once in a blue moon, the road Wadi will be running across the road. So when it rains the transportation will come to a halt.

What is the big deal if the transportation outside the city comes to a halt once in a blue moon? Well guys, people do live outside the city area. There are lots and lots of tiny villages positioned all over the desert. Because that there is so much free space and land outside the city, the houses are placed quite far from each other. Heard that lands to build houses are given to the locals by the government according to their cast and status. Its pity you can’t choose where you want to live. Well anyway the problem is that, because you find houses all over the place and they are situated far from each other, it’s not possible to supply water and clear drainage through pipelines. So the water is supplied to the houses regularly and the drainage is sucked away by Tanker Lorries. By standard the water supplying tankers are blue in colour while the Yellow ones suck away the drainage.

So when the Wadi flows high, and blocks the road, people in the rural areas will not have access to water, and their drainage will not be cleared too. But luckily for them, the dessert sun is too hot, that Wadi doesn’t last more than a day. Cost reduction is the only possible explanation given by the road authorities, for not building a bridge and making the Wadi go beneath the road. Life is funny and different all over the world!!!