Sitar restaurant flooded by burst water main
An Indian restaurant has been forced to shut for at least two months, after a burst water main flooded its kitchens.
Owner Umar Ali, known to all his customers just as Ali, has run the Sitar restaurant on the corner of Victoria Street in St Peter Port since 1998.
‘The guys turned up for work on Saturday, walked past the roadworks outside, opened the door to the stairs to the cellar where the kitchens are and saw there was water coming up the stairs,’ he said.
‘It was like a swimming pool, it was knee-deep.’
Mr Ali said staff ran out and told the workmen outside what was happening.
‘One of them said he’d hit a water main,’ said Mr Ali.
‘The water was just flooding through the walls.
‘It took the fire brigade two hours, with three hoses going full tilt, to pump the water out.’
Mr Ali said he has seen workmen from Guernsey Water on site on Saturday, but not since.
There were no workers on the site yesterday, with pneumatic drill still lying on top of broken up tarmac.
‘The same stretch of road has been dug out four or five times in the last 12 months, we have water, gas and electrics out there,’ he said.
‘I think this has led to the road being weakened, which led to the water main getting damaged.’
The restaurant is now looking at being closed for an extended period for the kitchen to be refitted once insurance companies have agreed claims.
‘It was not just stock we lost, but fridges and cookers,’ said Mr Ali.
‘We had a brand new fridge delivered in December, we had to take it apart to get it down the stairs, and on Saturday we had to take it apart to get it out, and now its gone to the dump.’
Guernsey Water Operations Manager Jon Holt confirmed that one of the water mains in St Peter Port had burst in the early hours of Saturday morning.
‘Our distribution team attended the site immediately to isolate the burst to prevent further damage and provided a temporary secondary means of supply to surrounding properties,’ he said.
‘We are planning to reline approximately 60 metres of the main over the next week or so to ensure it doesn’t burst again.’
Mr Ali thanked islanders for all the messages he had received from loyal customers.
‘We really appreciate everyone’s concern,’ he said.
‘We can’t wait to be able to open our doors again and welcome everyone back.’
