Water pumping suspended after street collapse along airport road

AMMAN — The Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna) on Thursday suspended pumping from two major carriers running along the airport road after a street near a construction site collapsed.

Miyahuna stopped pumping via the pipeline that transfers water from the Disi Water Conveyance Project to Amman and another 800mm pipe that also supplies the capital with its water needs.

A street located near the construction site of a shopping mall off the airport road collapsed on Thursday, causing no injuries but posing “extreme risk to two of Amman’s major carriers”.

“The water was suspended as a precautionary measure, because the site of the collapse is very close to the two pipelines,” a Miyahuna official said.

The collapse incident will affect the capital’s water distribution programme, Miyahuna said, noting that “the western neighbourhoods of Amman, including the Um Al Summaq, Tabarbour, Deir Ghbar, Sweifiyeh and Jabal Tareq areas will be affected”. 

Under the distribution programme, Jordanian households receive water once every set period, usually a week to 10 days, on a rotating basis. Scarce water resources in the country compelled the Kingdom to initiate the programme in the early 1980s to conserve limited resources and ensure a sustainable supply of water for subscribers.

The official underlined that maintenance works are now ongoing to repair the part of the street that caved in.

The Greater Amman Municipality urged contractors to abide by its building codes, and requirements to safeguard public safety and avoid damage of private and state-owned properties.

The municipality underlined that owners of construction projects and contractors who fail to abide by the municipality’s building regulations will face legal sanctions and bear the costs of any damages to private and public properties.