Dubai has signed new contracts worth Dh3 billion to expand its stormwater drainage network, the latest step in the city's wider Tasreef Programme aimed at cutting street flooding after heavy rain. The new contracts will add roughly 100 kilometres of main drainage lines, some with pipe diameters of up to three metres, covering an area of nearly 100 square kilometres.
The newly awarded phase spans eleven areas: Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim, Al Safa, Al Manara, Al Quoz, Al Barsha, Al Wasl, Za'abeel, Al Bada'a, Al Satwa and Al Marmoom — neighbourhoods that have historically seen some of the worst waterlogging after downpours.
The Tasreef Programme carries an overall budget of around Dh30 billion. This latest award builds on a Dh2.5 billion second phase handed to contractors in February 2026, which was designed to cover 30 areas and serve roughly three million residents by 2040.
The push to overhaul Dubai's drainage infrastructure gained urgency after a series of unusually heavy rain events in recent years, most notably the record-breaking floods of April 2024, which exposed the limits of the city's older stormwater systems when faced with intense, short-duration rainfall.
Dubai's municipal authorities have since made drainage investment a recurring priority, rolling out contracts in stages as part of a long-term strategy to make the city more resilient to extreme weather, which officials expect to become more frequent across the region. Once this latest phase is complete, residents in the newly covered neighbourhoods should see significantly shorter periods of standing water on streets after heavy storms.