Ex Jet Airways CEO-Designate Counters Anand Mahindra Over Dubai Rain Post
Amid the torrential downpour across the United Arab Emirates, flooding major highways and the international airport, Anand Mahindra has been called out by the former Jet Airways CEO-designate Sanjiv Kapoor for comparing the situation in Dubai with Mumbai.
On Tuesday, the Mahindra chairperson took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share a video of flooding in Dubai. The video showed several cars and trucks partially submerged in water as the vehicles navigated through the flood. Mahindra captioned the video, “Nope. Not Mumbai. Dubai…”
Nope.
Not Mumbai.
Dubai…
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 16, 2024
Reposting the tweet, Sanjiv Kapoor disapproved of the comparison drawn between the two places. He stated that Dubai was not built for such heavy rains, which would flood most cities. Suggesting a better analogy, Mr. Kapoor wrote, “A better analogy would be if it suddenly snowed heavily in Bombay, which was obviously not built to handle snow at all. Would people in snowy Oslo mock Bombay?”
Incorrect analogy. Dubai was not built for such heavy rains – rains that would flood most cities. A better analogy would be if it suddenly snowed heavily in Bombay, which was obviously not built to handle snow at all. Would people in snowy Oslo mock Bombay? https://t.co/bqNzEqZf0Z
— Sanjiv Kapoor (@TheSanjivKapoor) April 16, 2024
Clarifying in a follow-up post, the former CEO-designate of Jet Airways said that Mr. Mahindra might not have been mocking Dubai in his tweet. He reaffirmed his point that Dubai was not built for heavy rains. “Dubai was not built for heavy rains, no matter what the source of the rain (seeding etc). It would be impractical to build cities to handle any extreme weather scenario, however unlikely,” he added.
Ok, upon re-reading the post, maybe it is not mocking Dubai. However the point remains Dubai was not built for heavy rains, no matter what the source of the rain (seeding etc). It would be impractical to build cities to handle any extreme weather scenario, however unlikely.
— Sanjiv Kapoor (@TheSanjivKapoor) April 16, 2024
Mr. Kapoor shared a video of the Dubai rains, turning the city dark with fog. He wrote, “This is not normal rain in any city! If seeded, it produced much more than they would have been expecting. A year’s worth of rain in a few hours!”
This is not normal rain in any city! If seeded, it produced much more than they would have been expecting. A year”s worth of rain in a few hours!https://t.co/r1nl5emzWf
— Sanjiv Kapoor (@TheSanjivKapoor) April 17, 2024
Since Monday, regions across the UAE have been witnessing intense rains. Around 9 a.m. on Tuesday, the storms intensified and continued throughout the day. Nearly 4 inches of rain fell over the course of just 12 hours on Tuesday. By the end of Tuesday, Dubai had witnessed rain totaling more than 142 mm. The rain is expected to subside, although light showers may occur on Wednesday before the region’s dry weather returns.
