BY SACHIN KUMAR
DOHA: Higher accidents due to rising number of vehicles in Qatar are boosting business of automobile repair shops. These garages are now getting three to five vehicles per day for repair, much higher than three to five vehicles they were getting five years ago.
“We are getting busier every year as more vehicles are now coming for repair due to increasing accidents on roads. I used to get three to five vehicles per week for repair work five years back, now I get up to five vehicles every day,” said a garage owner having repair shop in Industrial area. “Rising number of vehicles in Qatar is helping our business to grow,” he added.
Industrial area is the main hub of garages and all the vehicles, after accident, go there for repair work. According to estimates, there are around 500 garages operating in Industrial area.
Government’s massive push to develop infrastructure in Qatar has led to huge influx of expatriates. Rising population is having knock-on effect on the number of vehicles as every month 8,000 to 10,000 new vehicles join the roads of Qatar. According to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics data around 10,000 vehicles were registered September while around 8,400 vehicle were registered in October this year.
Drivers seem to lose their cool mostly when the mercury soars as garages receive more cases of dents during summer season. According to garage owners, vehicles having small dents after minor accidents claim lion’s share in their business.
“We are busier in summer compare to other seasons. I think people want to reach their destination fast during summer, which leads to more cases of dents,” said another garage owner in Industrial Area. “Most of vehicles which come here for repair have minor dents while vehicles with major accidents are few. One of the main reasons for high number of minor dents is that drivers cannot drive fast in the city limits as roads are packed with too many vehicles,” he said.
Commuters say that minor accidents have become common scene now days. “On my way to office from my house on Monday, a car had hit another on Al Wukair and after moving little ahead there was another minor accident near the Pearl Roundabout in Wakra. Both these accidents could have been averted if the drivers were driving cautiously,” said an Indian expatriate who stays in Wukair. Until the time people learn to drive safely, driver’s loss will continue to be garage’s gain.The Peninsula
