Some Karachi areas might face water shortage as Dhabeji sees yet another power breakdown

Karachi could face a shortfall of 100 million gallons of water per day (MGD) due to a power breakdown at the Dhabeji Pumping Station, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) said on Sunday.

The Dhabeji Pumping Station is a key pumping station operated by KWSC, Karachi’s sole water utility, that serves the city’s major areas. Past breakdowns at the facility have impacted supply to the East and Central districts, including areas like Nazimabad, New Karachi, Landhi and Korangi.

In a statement today, a KWSC spokesperson said the “major” power breakdown in the second phase of the Dhabeji station was reported at 6:35am.

“Due to the power suspension, line number 5 has been affected,” the KWSC official said, adding that two pumps of the second phase have been shut as a result.

“Due to the pumps’ shutdown and the line being impacted, the city could face a shortage of 100 million gallons of water,” the statement cautioned.

The KWSC official asserted that repair work of the affected line “will be completed on an emergency basis”, and assured citizens that the utility’s management was making every effort to complete the repair work in a timely manner.

“As soon as the repair work has been completed, Dhabeji Pumping Station’s system will return to routine,” the spokesperson added.

The statement recalled that the K-III Pumping House at the Dhabeji station had remained shut for 36 hours from November 5 onwards due to a cable fault.

The Dhabeji Pumping Station, which is the city’s primary water intake point, is highly dependent on uninterrupted electricity. Even brief outages result in immediate service disruptions.

The station has been facing multiple problems related to poor maintenance and technical issues for a decade, with multiple breakdowns this year alone, leaving residents in many areas grappling with a water crisis.

Karachi faced a shortfall of 100MGD in January after “two water pipelines burst due to a power outage” at the Dhabeji station. The facility also remained without electricity for at least three days in late June, causing a shortfall of 350MGD.

Last month, one pump at the Dhabeji station was taken offline for maintenance-related needs, while the North East Pumping Station already faced a power breakdown.

Due to persistent water shortages across the city, people mostly rely on water tankers. They, however, face a great deal of hardship in getting them, as the water utility receives more bookings than the quota of water reserved for each district.