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Dubai - Workers living in Sonapur are appealing for someone to take responsibility as stagnant sewage water has accumulated outside their mosque making it impossible for them to pray.

More than 1,000 workers living in the area use the mosque for their daily prayers and were looking forward to the start of Ramadan. However, the sewage, stagnant for over a month, has now reached the gate of the nearby mosque forcing workers to stay indoors during the holy month. “We can't step out due to the stench and fear of catching some disease. All we want to do is to pray during the holy month of Ramadan. We want a clean and healthy environment,” said Imtiaz Khan, a labourer.

The stinking water comes from the overflowing drainage of various camps in the area that collects on the nearby road. Vehicles passing along the road splash the fetid water on to people heading to the mosque forcing them to head home and clean themselves. “We have to be clean for the prayers and vehicles keep splashing sewage water on us. It's not right that we have to cross this drainage to reach the mosque,” said Ismail Qadir.

The labourers said yesterday that they now fear the water may be the cause for fever and diseases among some of them. “Dozens of our workers have been taken to the hospital for fever, cold and other diseases. We fear this may be due to the stagnant drainage. Even smelling this makes you feel dizzy sometimes,” said another frustrated worker.

Dubai Municipality officials told 7DAYS yesterday that they were aware of the problem and have fined the companies with camps in the area for the negligence.

“We have imposed fines on companies for not clearing their tanks and collecting the sewage. It is the responsibility of the companies to ensure that the tanks are clear and there is no spill,” said a senior official from the waste services section of Dubai Municipality.

Workers, however, claim that despite the fines no one has cleaned up the area yet.

By Praveen Menon

7DAYS General and Local News | Dubai Abu Dhabi | UAE | Dubai - Help us pray

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Assalam Alaykum

This is truly sad. I was dissapointed that the authorities haven't done anything yet. I hope they clean it up. I've written to 7days to ask if we could do anything, like donate or write to the authorities.