Nearly 45 per cent of the areas in the capital are vulnerable to floods from wadis, while another 20 per cent are subject to coastal floods. This was revealed on Thursday at the seminar organised to discuss the details of the Greater Muscat masterplan.
The project directors of the masterplan called for the need to identify areas of high risk and take precautions to counter worst-case scenarios for the local population, such as easy access to hospitals and facilitating safety areas with easy access.
The statistics are important as the National Strategy for Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change for the Sultanate of Oman (2020-2040) of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had called on urban planners in the Oman to consider the impact of heavy rainfall that usually follows the low-pressure systems developed in the sea, especially the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Urban areas characterised by a high concentration of people, infrastructure, business and industry will be vulnerable to extreme climate events without adequate planning and governance.
“Extreme rainfall can lead to flash floods, which can adversely affect business sectors such as telecommunications, insurance and banking, among others.”
The report warned that with climate change, the Sultanate of Oman's low-lying areas along the coast will be vulnerable to flooding from the combined impact of sea-level rise and storm surge associated with extreme weather events.
Also wary of the rising temperatures during summer, the masterplan called for measures to reduce exposure and vulnerability to heat by densification of buildings (shade/thermal comfort), tree planting, solar reflectance of white and green spaces, wind flow to support passive cooling, and reduce facades facing critical sun path and zero per cent of glazing in buildings.
The masterplan for Greater Muscat will be completed in the first quarter of 2023.
Officials said that some progress has been made in the first and second phases, which focused on collecting and analysing data. The third phase will focus on the structural plan based on data collected from the first and second phases.
The seminar discussed the current state of planning in Greater Muscat, challenges facing urban growth and development opportunities that can be exploited with the help of a high-standard masterplan.
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