The municipal council here has blamed the city's mayoralty for the damage to residential buildings caused by the recent foods, accusing officials of not carrying out much-needed drainage projects. The council's chairman Dr. Abdulmohsen Aal Al-Sheikh said that the mayoralty had aggravated the problem by filling up natural channels with earth. These channels were meant to drain away flood water. Aal Al-Sheikh made the accusations in the presence of Dr. Osama Al-Bar, Mayor of Makkah. Aal Al-Sheikh said the council had adopted a resolution holding the mayoralty accountable for any harm to residents in these vulnerable districts. He said the council had briefed officials on these affected districts and possible future dangers. The floods in Makkah earlier this month caused at least six deaths, according to reports. It follows in the wake of the devastating floods in Jeddah last November that saw over a 100 residents lose their lives and considerable damage inflicted on property. An investigation is under way in Jeddah to hold officials accountable for not carrying out much needed drainage projects. A number of officials have been arrested. The deluge in Makkah had also caused 400 Chinese workers to stop working on the Al-Haramain train project's main station on the Makkah-Al-Hada Road where pools of water had formed four hours after the deluge. The mayoralty had also drained more than 5,000 cubic meters of water collected in different areas after the heavy downpour.
