Karachi's water woes show no signs of abating

Debilitating shortages faced as 10 pumps at Dhabeji shut to repair 84-inch main pipeline

KARACHI:

Imagine a teeming city by the sea stuck in a chronic water crisis — a crisis perpetuated by inefficiency and greed of its civic authorities, a crisis used by a "mafia" as a bone to mint money, of course in connivance with some black sheep in the administration.

Yes, it's Karachi. The metropolitan city plunges into made-made water crises with regular intervals. Every time, civic authorities blame it on pipeline ruptures before offering lip-service to the parched citizens.

The latest water crisis - blamed on burst of the main 84-inch diameter pipeline near Karachi University - has exasperated after authorities shut down 10 pumps at the Dhabeji pumping station to plug the hole in the damaged pipeline. The pipeline, which burst on Tuesday morning, resulted in the wastage of millions of gallons of water and severe disruption to the city's supply.

The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) has stopped the water flow and started repair work, which is expected to be completed by Saturday evening. It states that around 36 feet of the damaged pipeline — originally made of Pre-Stressed Reinforced Cement Concrete (PRCC) - will be replaced with a more durable Mild Steel (MS) pipe.

To facilitate the repair operations, 10 pumps at the Dhabeji pumping station, the city key water supply source, millions of Karachiites are facing a daily shortfall of 200 million gallons of water. Over the past three days, this has amounted to a shortage of around 700 million gallons. Several neighbourhoods have been severely affected, including Korangi, Landhi, Shah Faisal Colony, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Jamshed Road, PIB Colony, Liaquatabad, Nazimabad, Gulberg, the Old City Area, and Defence-Clifton.

Meanwhile, KWSC Managing Director Ahmed Saleem Siddiqui has constituted a three-member investigation committee to examine the causes of repeated failures in the city's main water supply lines. The committee will submit its findings directly to the MD. As per sources, the line failure may be linked to the installation of two 24-inch connections allegedly added to the main 84-inch conduit to supply Safoora and NIPA hydrants.