Karachi water crisis to worsen over coming days

According to sources at KWSB, water supply to Karachi will remain suspended for next two to three days

KARACHI: Water crisis in Karachi worsened as water supply from Dhabeji pumping station, the only source of water to the metropolis, was disrupted due to prolonged electricity suspension on Friday evening at 7:25pm. The entire city has been deprived of water since then.

As a result of the power breakdown at Dhabeji pumping station, a 72-inch-diameter pipeline burst because of the pressure created due to the reverse flow of water. Reportedly, the grid station at Dhabeji pumping had also caught fire and once the fire was doused, it took about 13 hours to repair the grid station.

In this duration, the city remained deprived of 340 million gallons of water, as water supply to the city from six hydrants remained suspended. Otherwise, Karachi receives 480 million gallons of water from Dhabeji pumping station daily.

According to Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) Managing Director Asadullah Khan, fire at the grid station broke out on Friday evening and as a result, 340 million gallons of water couldn't be supplied to the city because the pumping station remained non-functional for 13 hours. He said that power suspension and fire at grid station had disrupted 56% of the water supply, which in turn affected the entire city.

However, K-Electric (KE) representatives claimed that their team had reached Dhabeji pumping station immediately, following the news of the fire, and quickly repaired the faults, ensuring that the electricity supply to the pumping station is restored.

Asadullah Khan informed that K-Electric has restored power supply to Dhabeji and water supply from the pumping station has also been restored. If the interrupted electricity supply to the pumping station is continued, the water supply could be restored to normal within 72 to 90 hours, he added.  He said that the burst pipeline has been repaired and appealed to the citizens to use water carefully as city faces a huge water shortfall.

Sources at KWSB, however, claimed that the water crisis in the city has worsened and the water supply to Karachi will remain suspended for next two to three days.

Water supply through water tankers in the city has also been affected severely.

Areas most affected by the suspended water supply include Korangi, Landhi, Malir, Shah Faisal Colony, Gulistan-e-Johar, New Karachi and North Karachi.

Karachi's overall demand of water is 1.2 billion gallons but it is being supplied with only 580 million gallons of water.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2019.