Muttrah Souq bears the brunt of another tragedy

Prone to adverse weather impacts, Muttrah Souq bore the brunt of the tropical cyclone Shaheen that caused extensive damage to property and infrastructure in Muscat before making landfall in Al Batinah Governorate on Sunday.

It is a different matter, however, that the damage would have been much more had the cyclone made landfall in Muscat, as per its earlier route.

The largest traditional souq in the Sultanate is also the source of livelihood for thousands of citizens and expatriates. It was limping back to regular business after extended closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We faced another adversity this week and majority of our goods got damaged in the storm and rain that triggered flashflood from one side to other side of the souq,” said Mohammed Ameen, a vendor of traditional medicines in the market.

From Saturday, Muttrah was under scanner, and the people were being dissuaded from visiting the corniche as high tidal waves, as high as 15 metres, flooded the roads and surroundings.

“We were expecting the worst since Saturday evening. Each time we have flashfloods, the gushing water wipes out everything on its way, from north to south,” Firos, an expatriate who runs an antique shop, told the Observer.

Later that day, there was a decision to close down the Muttrah area from both sides to ward off any untoward incident. Some vendors were also evacuated from the market area.

The civic workers wasted no time cleansing the debris inside the souq and washed the walls and wooden decors with the help of water tankers.

The loss suffered by the souq that houses more than 5,000 vendors, salespeople and artisans from across the world, along with citizens, and traditional merchants and residents around, is colossal.

Besides the daily walk-ins, the souq lives on major seasons like two Eids, Ramadhan and cruise season. However, 2020 and 2021 proved terrible for the souq due to the pandemic and now the cyclone.

“We hope to see early removal of stagnant water from the area to restart the business activities,” a vendor who deals in fancy accessories in the souq said.