KARACHI (MNN); Karachi may experience a significant water shortfall of nearly 100 million gallons per day following a major power breakdown at the Dhabeji Pumping Station, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) reported on Sunday.
The Dhabeji facility, the city’s main water intake point, supplies several major districts and has a long history of breakdowns causing citywide disruptions.
According to the KWSC, the latest incident occurred at 6:35am when a “major” electrical failure hit the second phase of the station, shutting down four pumps and damaging the 72-inch line No. 5. The sudden outage severely impacted the water distribution system.
Initial assessments warn that the city could face a shortfall of up to 100 MGD until repairs are completed. Power was restored to two pumps by 9am, enabling partial resumption of water supply, while repair work on the damaged pipeline is underway on an emergency basis under the directives of KWSC CEO Ahmed Ali Siddiqui.
The utility assured citizens that technical teams are working round-the-clock to restore full operations, with the system expected to be completely functional by Monday. The KWSC emphasised that it is utilising all available resources to expedite repairs.
The Dhabeji station has suffered multiple outages this month alone, previously losing power on November 5, 11 and 13 due to K-Electric cable faults. KE recently restored power to 20 out of 22 pumps, blaming leakages in KWSC pipelines for damaging underground cables.
For over a decade, the station has been struggling with structural issues, frequent breakdowns and dependency on uninterrupted electricity. Even short outages cause immediate supply disruptions. Earlier breakdowns this year resulted in shortages of 100 to 350 MGD, compounding Karachi’s long-standing water crisis.
Given the chronic shortages, citizens continue to depend heavily on water tankers — a process often marred by delays, long waits and insufficient district quotas, leaving many households struggling daily for clean water.
