Ministry to develop Malé roads to resolve having to constantly dig them up

Minister of National Planning and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam has revealed that a road development initiative in capital city Malé is in question and it is required to be planned through in a way that doesn’t require authorities to constantly dig up the roads.

While the minister was summoned to the Parliament Committee on National Development and Heritage on Thursday, he stated that the issue of flooding in the capital city is of pressing concern and that the unevenness of the roads lead to heavy flooding.

Thus far, pump systems have been used to drain the flood water in the city, revealed Aslam.

Further, he shed light on the work being carried out by the Malé City Council to develop the roads, adding that the ministry is giving its full cooperation in its work.

Said work is being carried out with the inclusion of storm water drainage, said Aslam.

The ministry plans to develop the roads in a manner that doesn’t require authorities to constantly keep digging them up, while keeping changes to parking in mind as well as leveling the roads and burying additional pipes underground.

While draining storm water in Malé, authorities have not been heedful in draining water out of the city as the city lacks space to efficiently carry out the procedure. This, Aslam said, requires an artificial solution.

Aslam went on to add that authorities are working to allocate a location to collect storm water.

The city is prone to heavy flooding even with the slightest amount of rain, sometimes with calf-deep flooding and water entering homes as almost all residences in Malé are level with the roads.