Seeb Souq

Times News Service

MUSCAT –

People in the areas affected by Tropical Cyclone Gonu have heaved a sigh of relief after basic necessities like water and electricity were restored in most places.

The water problem which had affected many parts of Muscat has been solved and most areas accept some parts of Ruwi have been receiving the water, bringing much joy and relief among the citizens.

A tour of all the areas in and around Muscat has also revealed that efforts to restore normalcy by all government departments have been successful.

Most roads in the capital area have been restored to their original condition while work is being done on a war footing to remove the mud and dirt that was washed up on roads and streets leading in and out of Muscat.

The Royal Oman Police, which is coordinating with all the government machinery to tackle the aftermath of Cyclone Gonu has emphasised that a sense of normality has been restored.

“We want to emphasise that life is coming back to normality as water is flowing to most parts of the town and electricity has also been restored everywhere except some parts of Quriyat,” Colonel Abdullah Al Harthy, spokesperson of the ROP said.

Initially it was providing food, water and shelter to those who were affected by the cyclone. Now we have overcome the crisis period. It is time for people to move on with their lives,” Colonel Abdullah observed.

Those who have become victims of the cyclone have also been given all possible assistance and will continue to receive aid, but others people should continue with normal life, he opined.

While pointing out that a sense of normality has been restored, he said there is no lack of business transactions, banks are functioning normally, people are getting their cash from the ATMs and are doing jobs like any other normal day.

“Now everyone should put their past behind and should become forward looking,” Colonel Abdullah said.

While most people are into their regular grind now, there are some people for whom the haunting after effects of Cyclone Gonu still remain.

Like the shopkeepers in Seeb Souq.

When the cyclone struck, they did not think that the souq would be flooded with water.

Anwar Safah Textile Showroom in Seeb is one such shop which became water logged during the storm.

Rajkumar Vangani, purchasing manager of the textile showroom said that they had inspected the showroom at 3 pm on June 6 but 10 minutes later water gushed into a large portion of the souq filling many shops with water.

A major portion of the clothes and textiles on display were rendered useless by the water, says Rajkumar while adding that they are now waiting for the insurance to come and assess the loss.

“We do not know how much compensation they will give us,”
Rajkumar said.

Many other shops in the vicinity suffered a similar fate as was seen by the number of items which was left out in the sun on the Seeb Souq street.

Bridging the gaps

Times News Service

MUSCAT –

A local construction company was instrumental in restoring the vital road links after Cyclone Gonu damaged many roads.

Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), which is building the dual carriageway between Quriyat and Al Amerat since the past seven months had its camps in Al Amerat.

The day after the cyclone, the company, knowing the importance of a road link immediately began the onerous task of building the road between Wadi Adei and Al Amerat without waiting for instructions from the authorities.

By the time the defence team had arrived, NCC had made the temporary road from the Al Amerat side leading to Wadi Adei.

According to officials of the Hyderabad-based NCC, this quick action by the company, which helped to restore the lifeline between Muscat and the two affected areas of Quriyat and Al Amerat, has been commended by the municipality authorities as well by the various agencies of the government which coordinated the road restoration work.

“After realising the magnitude of the situation, our company employees knew they had to react immediately and they plunged into action by mobilising the 2000-strong workforce and the fleet of heavy machinery and started work on building a new road besides the breached portions of the highway,” Narayana Raju Alluri, director of NCC told the Times of Oman.

Soon defence personnel arrived and together with the workers of NCC completed the road link within 24 hours for traffic between Al Amerat and Wadi Adei.

This helped the relief materials to reach the affected people in Quriyat in quick time.

NCC also bridged the gap in the highway just at the entrance to Quriyat below the mountain, making a road from the wadi-bed stones and granules.

“We deployed all our heavy machinery which includes trucks, dozers, loaders water tankers worth around INR120 crore to repair the breached roads step by step in Al Amerat, Quriyat, Seah, Serin and Wadi Adei in coordination with the municipality authorities,” Alluri said.

“The municipality authorities were pleased with our initial action. Now we are taking their instructions to repair the rest of the roads,” Alluri added.

“Our heavy machinery is at the disposal of the government for the reconstruction works and we will start our normal work later on,” Alluri said.

Alluri said the entire team of NCC employees including Omanis worked day and night to support the government in the rebuilding and restoration works.

He said that the NCC has much experience working in cyclone areas like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa in India and they are ready to mobilise 2000 extra workers in case the government wants more resources for the reconstruction works.

Besides the construction of the roads, NCC also did a ‘good samaritan’ job by reaching out to the affected people and providing relief material, power generator etc to the residents of Yitti, where the company is working on a project for Sama Dubai.

They also provided petrol to the fishermen.

Nearly 35 kms of road connecting Yitti and Hajjr was destroyed but NCC got into the act here too and rebuilt the road. Further, the company also installed a 500 kv power generator to help the villagers in Yitti.

“We provided generators even in Al Amerat petrol station to supply fuel to the motorists,” Alluri informed.

Private relief organised

Times News Service

MUSCAT –

Dar Al Atta (house of giving) charitable organisation has its hands full these days doling out to the victims of the destructive cyclone that struck exactly one week ago.

Since the day after the cyclone, Dar Al Atta has received hundreds of calls for help and has responded to each one of them admirably.

These calls are not only from individuals but also from private sector companies who needed help in this time of this crisis.

Thousands of cartons of water were also given away by Dar Al Atta because of the severe water shortage which hit Muscat as a result of the cyclone.

“We have been practically going all over Muscat including Yitti, Quriyat and other areas to provide relief, mainly food ration. This would be sufficient for two to three days. We will be going again to all the places again,” said Shata Abbas, board member of Dar Al Atta.

Besides food, other items like mattresses, pillows, blankets and plastic items like buckets, mugs etc have also been distributed by the organisation to hundreds of people.

There are two relief camps at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher and other at Mohanna bin Sultan School where around 1000 people are being provided with food and water.

The office of Dar Al Atta is being flooded with calls both for help as well as from donors. Many companies which cannot be named have donated a number of items.

More than 20,000 cartons of water and thousands of tons of food was donated to the victims, informs Maryam Al Zadjali, chairperson of Dar Al Atta.

All the goods are delivered to the wali of that particular wilayat or area, who then distributes it according to the individual needs, it is disclosed.

Dar Al Atta was also the first private charitable organisation to reach the victims of Tropical Cyclone Gonu in Quriyat last Thursday, Maryam said.

Eight pick-up trucks from Dar Al Atta reached Quriyat as soon as the road was opened for traffic, the day after the cyclone passed over.

“Our team did not rest for three consecutive days as they would return, load the goods and go back to Quriyat as the need was tremendous in that area,” she said.

Maryam said that Dar Al Atta has adopted a two-pronged strategy to tackle this gigantic humanitarian task.

“In the first phase, we wanted to provide immediate relief like providing the essential items including food to the victims. Now the second phase of our operations is to help in the rehabilitation of the people who have lost their houses,” she pointed out.

Among those who are taking shelter in Bausher stadium and the Mohannad school, there are many who have lost their houses. “We would like to help them rebuild their homes,” says Maryam.

Dar Al Atta has opened a special account for this crisis donation. Money can be deposited in BankMuscat account no 0032600120081038.

Caught between furious wadis and stormy sea

Times News Service

QURIYAT –

They were told that tidal waves stirred by Tropical Cyclone Gonu would strike them but alas it was not the sea that brought sorrow but the wadi waves that washed away their dreams and their livelihoods.

This is the story of Quriyat Wilayat during Cyclone Gonu where the people were least prepared for overflowing wadis that engulfed their houses and rendered them homeless and hopeless.

Apart from parts of Quriyat, other villages which bore the brunt of the cyclone effects include Hail Al Ghaf, Daghmar, Hajr, Mujara, Sahal and Mala etc.

The worst affected seem to be Hail Al Ghaf and Daghmar.

Speaking to Times of Oman, many victims of the cyclone recalled that they were warned to stay as far away from the coast as possible for fear of tidal waves.

Apparently nobody reckoned with the danger that flowed fast and furious in the form of wadi waters which gushed down from the mountains and swept away everything.

“We did not know what to do when the wadi water began to enter our house. We climbed the terrace of the building and stayed there more than 11 hours, drenched in the rain and shivering with cold,” said one resident recounting the terrifying moments.

There were 15 others who were stranded along with him in this condition with a prayer and a hope that water would not rise more than that.

Heavy infrastructural damage was visible everywhere just like in the capital area of Muscat. Most of the roads were either buried in tons of mud and sand or were washed away, power lines, cables were strewn all across the roads and wadis, houses were damaged and vehicles of all kinds were destroyed.

The first inkling you get of the damage and destruction wrought by the cyclone hits you when you cross the Wadi Adei roundabout and enter the road to Quriyat.

The road is seen in bits and parts for the first 10 kms, the rest is make-shift dirt tracks. Only mangled remains of the tarred road remain, reminiscent of a World War II scene.

After, Al Amerat, the road remains in its original condition, till you descend the highway from the mountain.

Immediately after the welcome board to Quriyat, the gravel track acting as a bridge between the cut portions of the road makes you feel unwelcome.

And then, the 30 minute-drive to Daghmar, around 12 kms from Quriyat, is itself an ordeal for fear of the saloon car’s suspension system snapping into two while negotiating the wet and dirt tracks.

But this is nothing compared to the scenes of the people who are literally been thrown out of their homes by nature’s fury.

Mud and sand churned up by the overflowing wadis gushed into their houses making them completely inhabitable.

Thus furniture, rugs, carpets, valuables and everything else found inside a house was out on the street and only the mud is piled up inside, in some cases as high as 3 feet.

Many of the affected people have been shifted to relief camps while those who preferred to stay near their homes received relief materials constantly.

The convoys of relief material going towards Quriyat are the only saving grace to erase the memories of the actual horror that struck the areas in and around this wilayat.

Private and charitable organisations like Dar Al Atta, besides many individuals have been going to Quriyat with all sorts of relief materials.

The government of the Sultanate of Oman has already touched base with the victims. This was seen in the praises heaped upon His Majesty The Sultan by the residents of the villages everywhere.

When asked about their welfare, the people thanked His Majesty The Sultan and glorified Oman.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy has been sending relief material like beds, mattresses, blankets, rugs etc to the Indian expatriates who were rendered homeless.

More than 300 Indians have been housed in a primary school and are being supplied with food, water and other essential items.

Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who form a major chunk of expatriates living in and around Quriyat were also seen taking essential items from military vehicles which were reaching most of the areas.

Normalising after Gonu

MUSCAT –

Efforts to restore normalcy following the trail of destruction and devastation left by Tropical Cyclone Gonu are going on at a hectic pace.

The Muscat Municipality has arranged hordes of workers to clear all the roads of the mud and muck, while the army and the police have combined together to reach out to the people who have been stranded in villages.

His Majesty the Sultan’s wise decision to declare holidays till today has helped matters a lot as the municipality and rescue workers were able to work unhindered to clear the roads and help the injured and the affected people.

Almost all the main areas have been filled with storm water and municipality workers were working non-stop trying to clear and clean the roads.

Many of the tree-lined avenues are no longer the same as the force of the gale packed a punch and felled many of the beautiful neem trees like nine pins and blocked many of the roads.

Civic workers were engaged in cutting and sawing off the trunks and branches of these trees as they blocked many of the roads.

The areas which were in elevated position like parts of Ruwi, CBD, Al Falaz, Darsait, Mutrah, Qurum and Al Khuwair, escaped the wrath of the flood waters.

But most of the low lying areas, especially Ghubra and surrounding areas, bore the brunt of the rain and flood waters.

Unofficial sources said that gates of some dams in the mountains surrounding Muscat had to be opened as they began to overflow and this brought the flood water quickly into the residential areas.

This was corroborated by residents who said that water flooded their houses in just a matter of minutes and they had no time to save their belongings and had to flee to upper rooms and flats to save themselves.

Wadi Adai has been practically cut off because both the main road as well the service road which lead to this village have been cut off.

While parts of the main highway going to Quriyat near Wadi Adai was cut off by the swirling wadi waters, the other smaller road was also washed off.

The army has been commissioned to reach out to the inhabitants of this village with food, water and medicine.

Defence trucks were seen ferrying all the supplies to this area.

Vehicles of the Royal Oman Police as well from the army were patrolling all areas to ensure normalcy in all the areas.

The Seeb International Airport, which was shut down with the arrival of the cyclone, has resumed operations with Oman Air operating its flights since early morning on Friday.

Soon other flights also began to operate from the airport which has come back to normal, airport officials said here.

Many expatriate families who were about to leave on their annual vacation were hemmed in their homes by the storm and the cancellation of the flights.

Now they are not sure as to when they would get the tickets because of the passenger backlog.

Cable television operators also are working overtime to restore some sanity among their customers as the dish antennas on most homes had blown away with the wind cutting of the window to the world.

Meanwhile, many of the pews in the Ruwi church were also empty on Friday because of the lack of the taxis which used to transport the faithfuls for their prayers.

Airlines after Gonu

Times News Service

MUSCAT –

Indian Airlines has pressed into service additional aircraft to clear the backlog of more than 1000 passengers following the temporary closure of Seeb International Airport due to Tropical Cyclone Gonu.

Additional flights were deployed to Calicut, Kochi and Mumbai which included one wide-bodied aircraft. These flights are known as ferry flights as they come empty from India.

Top officials of Indian have arrived in Muscat to coordinate the airlifting of these passengers who are mostly South-India bound. The officials included Abhay Pathak, Regional Manager, Gulf; and Rajender Minhas, manager (marketing) Gulf.

“By tomorrow we will clear the rush of the passengers and stabilise our flight schedules,” Abhay Pathak, Regional Manager, Gulf, Indian Airlines, told the Times of Oman.

“Since this is the peak season, we had to deploy additional flights to reach the passengers to their destinations,” Pathak said.

Aditya Mathur, country manager, Oman, said that Indian operates 20 flights per week to the Indian subcontinent, out of which 11 flights are to the south and therefore additional flights had to be deployed to clear the backlog.

“We request passengers to cooperate in this situation and contact our office for any assistance,” Mathur said.

Most other airlines operating from Muscat have also resumed their operations in full swing.

The Seeb International Airport was shut down when Tropical Cyclone Gonu struck the coasts of Oman and was opened only on Friday morning.

Expatriate families who were about to leave on their annual vacation were hemmed in their homes by the storm and the cancellation of the flights.

Expats mainly from the Indian subcontinent were hit because the schools were closed and they lost out on two to three precious days of their holidays.

Oman Air, the Sultanate’s national carrier, had activated its emergency response team to take stock of the situation in view of the cyclone.

“We were following the developments of the cyclone in close coordination with the directorate general of the civil aviation and meteorology had stopped flights to Muscat on June 5 itself,” said Usama Karim Ahmed Al Haremi, public relations department manager, of Oman Air.

“We operated our flights to Kuwait and Beirut from Dubai when Seeb airport was closed and passengers in Muscat were provided accommodation. But from Friday (June 8) we are back to normal flight schedules,” Usama said.

Other airlines too suffered disruptions in their flight schedules, especially those operating to the Indian sub-continent.

Mrs Pancharatnam, country manager of Air India said: “We were able to operate our Salalah flight as usual last Wednesday (June 6) but had to cancel our flights from Muscat as the airport was closed due to the cyclone. We made arrangements for our passengers who came from distant places and were able to accommodate most of the passengers on the Saturday flights.”

“But there are some passengers who could not contact us due to communications failure. Such people have come to us for rebooking of their flights,” she said.

Gulf Air officials said that the airline has resumed flight operations into Oman. The flights were cancelled due to closure of the Seeb International Airport in Muscat as a result of the cyclone.

Passengers are advised to contact their local Gulf Air offices or travel agents for further details.

Gulf Air’s Oman-based World Wide Call Centre has resumed operations from yesterday.

The Call Centre, which is located in Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM), temporarily ceased its operations after Tropical Cyclone Gonu caused heavy floods leading to disruptions in communications.

A representative of Turkish airlines said that two flights were cancelled on Thursday and Friday due to the cyclone and now they will be sent on the Monday early morning flight.

“As most our passengers are Turkish people, we have not felt any pressure on our operations,” a Turkish airline official said.

Other prominent airlines officials operating out of Muscat could not be reached for comments.

Humanitarian gestures after gonu

Times News Service

MUSCAT –

The humanitarian crisis which has been unleashed by Tropical Cyclone Gonu is being tackled by people with their magnanimous humanitarian gestures.

Zubaidah Al Baloushi has come all the way from Al Mawaleh and has been going around in various localities of Muscat scouting for people who are in need of water.

Zubaidah’s car is filled with cartons of water and the passengers are her children, sister and nieces who are distributing the water to many people.

This simple but noble act of charity underlines the mood of the people post-cyclone as the state machinery and the citizens are supplementing each other in the relief and rescue work in order to restore a semblance of sanity after the twin blows of infrastructural damage and severe water shortage brought by the cyclone.

The Muscat Municipality has arranged hordes of workers to clear all the roads of the mud and muck, while the army and the police have combined together to reach out to the people who have been stranded in the villages.

His Majesty the Sultan’s wise decision to declare holidays till Saturday has helped matters a lot as the municipality and rescue workers were able to work unhindered to clear the roads and help the injured and the affected people.

In any case, municipality workers have a tough time on hand as they try to clear the roads in Ghubra and Azaiba, the most-hard hit area.

A tour by Times of Oman has revealed that many of the neighbourhoods in Gubra and Azaiba were still water-logged with weed and other debris lying in and around most of the areas which are resembling mini-lakes.

Sarooj Construction Company which is located in a particular low lying area near Chedi Hotel was completely submerged under water.

Selvan Neelaganta, who is the camp incharge for this company, said that he had evacuated most of the employees just before the cyclone and was all alone in the camp when the waters began to surge.

Immediately realising the danger, he jumped from the window and began to run when he found a parked shovel loader. He got into it and escaped.

Workers were seen using heavy machinery to salvage personal belongings from the flooded cabins which were floating among scores of stranded trucks.

Further up the road at Shatti Azaiba, the beach road was cut into two by the wadi which was still flowing heavily.

Those people who have been evacuated from low lying areas and coastal villages are staying in some schools and other relief centres. Such people are being supplied with food and water.

Work is also going on at a hectic pace to restore the damaged Qurum highway as well the Wadi Adai roads.

Many of the tree-lined avenues are no longer the same as the force of the gale packed a punch and felled many of the beautiful neem trees like nine pins and blocked many of the roads.

Civic workers were engaged in cutting and sawing off the trunks and branches of these trees as they blocked many of the roads.

The severe water shortage situation has improved slightly with residents of some areas like Qurum stating that they received tap water for a short period.

Officials of the Minister of Housing, Electricity and Water have stated that they are pumping water in limited quantities area wise as the full production of water has not yet begun.

But the sources said that all the water distribution systems have begun to function normally and it is just a matter of time before the reservoirs fill up and water reaches the domestic consumers.

Following the water shortage, a lot of the citizens have turned to the very same wadis which had wreaked destruction and damage and lined up on their banks to take their baths and clean cars.

A number of the large private sector companies were also reported to have supplied drinking water to their employees as a humanitarian gesture.

In another development, water tankers filled with water from as far away as Fanja, Samail were coming to Muscat to meet the demand of the consumers.

Representatives of Erko Oman LLC, which had commissioned four huge tankers each carrying around 4000-7000 litres of water said that they brought this water from Fanja and were supplying it to Royal Hospital and other big companies.

Water tankers were also seen buzzing up and down on many roads to cater to the demand.

Efforts to normalise after Gonu

MUSCAT –

Efforts to restore normalcy following the trail of destruction and devastation left by Tropical Cyclone Gonu are going on at a hectic pace.

The Muscat Municipality has arranged hordes of workers to clear all the roads of the mud and muck, while the army and the police have combined together to reach out to the people who have been stranded in villages.

His Majesty the Sultan’s wise decision to declare holidays till today has helped matters a lot as the municipality and rescue workers were able to work unhindered to clear the roads and help the injured and the affected people.

Almost all the main areas have been filled with storm water and municipality workers were working non-stop trying to clear and clean the roads.

Many of the tree-lined avenues are no longer the same as the force of the gale packed a punch and felled many of the beautiful neem trees like nine pins and blocked many of the roads.

Civic workers were engaged in cutting and sawing off the trunks and branches of these trees as they blocked many of the roads.

The areas which were in elevated position like parts of Ruwi, CBD, Al Falaz, Darsait, Mutrah, Qurum and Al Khuwair, escaped the wrath of the flood waters.

But most of the low lying areas, especially Ghubra and surrounding areas, bore the brunt of the rain and flood waters.

Unofficial sources said that gates of some dams in the mountains surrounding Muscat had to be opened as they began to overflow and this brought the flood water quickly into the residential areas.

This was corroborated by residents who said that water flooded their houses in just a matter of minutes and they had no time to save their belongings and had to flee to upper rooms and flats to save themselves.

Wadi Adai has been practically cut off because both the main road as well the service road which lead to this village have been cut off.

While parts of the main highway going to Quriyat near Wadi Adai was cut off by the swirling wadi waters, the other smaller road was also washed off.

The army has been commissioned to reach out to the inhabitants of this village with food, water and medicine.

Defence trucks were seen ferrying all the supplies to this area.

Vehicles of the Royal Oman Police as well from the army were patrolling all areas to ensure normalcy in all the areas.

The Seeb International Airport, which was shut down with the arrival of the cyclone, has resumed operations with Oman Air operating its flights since early morning on Friday.

Soon other flights also began to operate from the airport which has come back to normal, airport officials said here.

Many expatriate families who were about to leave on their annual vacation were hemmed in their homes by the storm and the cancellation of the flights.

Now they are not sure as to when they would get the tickets because of the passenger backlog.

Cable television operators also are working overtime to restore some sanity among their customers as the dish antennas on most homes had blown away with the wind cutting of the window to the world.

Meanwhile, many of the pews in the Ruwi church were also empty on Friday because of the lack of the taxis which used to transport the faithfuls for their prayers.

Gonu makes people thirsty

Times News Service

MUSCAT –

Tropical Cyclone Gonu brought with it a deluge of water but ironically Muscat has been hit hard by a severe shortage of water.

Yes, it is ‘water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink’ and even as the wadis and dams in and around Muscat are overflowing with water, the taps at home have run dry.

Sources in the water maintenance department of the Minister of Housing, Electricity and Water told the Times of Oman that it will take atleast another one day to resolve the problem.

Engineer Mohammed Al Araimi of the ministry said that the main reason for the shortage is the below normal production of water at the main desalination plant in Ghubra.

The water desalination plant which is gas-based did not receive sufficient quantity of gas because of the cyclonic storm and therefore the desalination production was affected.

Moreover, the official said that the ministry did not want to want to pump out the remaining water because they had to verify that the distribution system was intact by making sure that there was no pipeline burst in the network.

“We are checking all the points to ensure that there will be no leakage of the precious water anywhere. Hopefully everything should be alright by tomorrow evening (Saturday) or the day after (Sunday),” the official said.

Meanwhile, news of water shortage rapidly spread all over the capital area, forcing people to scurry to all the available hypermarkets, supermarkets and neighbourhood grocery stores in search of water.

People quickly scooped up the water available and those who were left out had to wait in long queues as the supermarkets began to ration out the water.

Even as the water stocks began to be exhausted, people turned towards anything that resembled water which included milk, juices, nectars and any other edible liquids.

Pressure also built on water bottling and water supplying companies to respond to frantic calls from thirsty customers.

Oman’s National Mineral Water Company Which supplies brands like Tanuf, Jabal Akhdar, Assaha and the 18.9 Salsabeel water bottles had to work overtime.

In another development, car washing shops were also shut down because of the shortage of water. This led car owners to drive down to wadis to clean up their cars of the muck and dirt, caused courtesy of Tropical Cyclone Gonu.

With the water crisis looming large, those people who hoped to enjoy an extended weekend holiday were literally left high and dry.

Prelude to Gonu

Times News Service

MUSCAT –

News of the impending Tropical Cyclone Gonu making a landfall has led to a flurry of activities among the coastal villages in and around Muscat.

The citizens have given heed to the warnings issued by the ROP in the media and are bracing themselves up for the first of its kind stormy event.

The most significant activity was happening among the fisherfolk who began to beach their fishing vessels.

In Muttrah Corniche, people were seen buying their fish as if it was the last catch for the next few days while a large number of fishing vessels were already brought ashore by the fishermen.

Port Sultan Qaboos, is home for many yatchs, dhows including His Majesty’s Fulk Al Salama, apart from the big ships.

Here, many workers were in the process of taking protection measures for their vessels.

A visit to the areas like Muttrah, Sidab, Haramel and Al Bustan villages by Times of Oman showed that fishermen who otherwise would be counting the number of fish-laden baskets were engaged in heaving their ‘Al Boums’ to the shore.

Loud cries of ‘heaves’ and ‘hos’ were heard above the roar of the surf in the lanes touching the beach among these villages as the menfolk pulled all their boats to the shore.

Others were busy folding up the fishing nets and piling them up in neat rows next to the boats.

While the coastguard prepared their vessels for emergency operations, the rest of the small fishing and recreation boats like speedboats etc were ‘offshore’.

Even as the elders were protecting their source of livelihood, the youth were having a whale of a time watching the roaring sea, which seemed to pick up in strength even as the ETA of the cyclone drew closer.

A drive along the coastal roads revealed the raging sea which began to send high and huge waves crashing against the rocky coastline of the villages even as dark clouds gathered ominously above the sky in and around Muscat.

Huge waves also crashed into retaining wall along the Al Bahri road in Muttrah Corniche providing a visual spectacle to the few people who were out on the roads.

It was a similar scene along the other beach areas also. The Qantab beach which is a hot favourite for all the city slickers on normal days is surely going to be deserted for the next few days.

Owners of the two coffee shops cum restaurants on this beach told Times of Oman that they intended to shut shop as the sea water was already beginning to overflow from the beach.

Meanwhile, reports reaching from the Sharqiyah region have revealed that the heavy rains have pounded most the areas in and around Sur, Al Kamil etc.

Readers of Times of Oman when contacted in Bani Bu Ali and other areas stated that incessant rain since yesterday morning forced them to stay indoors as the streets in most towns and villages have been flooded.

Gusty winds also blew away the rooftop dish antennas on most houses while the inclement weather temporarily disrupted the telecommunications in this region.

Manufacturing plants shutdown

Tropical cyclone Gonu has also forced the temporary shutdown of two major manufacturing plants in southern Oman and most likely may also affect the operations of Port Sohar.

Oman LNG and Oman India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO), the two major companies operating in the Sur region declared a holiday for their employees on Tuesday.

While there was no official comment on the shutdown, sources in Oman LNG confirmed that all employees were given a holiday effectively indicating that the plant was shutdown.

Similarly, OMIFCO officials also said that they had given a holiday for their employees on Tuesday.

The economic impact of these shutdowns is not clear as yet.

Meanwhile, the Port of Sohar which is around 200 kms north of Muscat has also taken precautionary measures in view of the impending cyclone.

Jan Meijer, CEO of Sohar Industrial Port Company which manages Port of Sohar said that depending upon the weather conditions, many of the large ships will be advised to stay outside the port area.

Construction firms and industries working in the low lying areas of the port have also been advised to take safety measures, said Jan while adding that the cyclone will not have a major economic impact on the long term operations of the port.

Unconfirmed reports have also indicated that the Sultan Qaboos port, which handles vehicles and containers, was also closed.