Dhabeji power breakdown disrupts water supply to parts of Karachi

KARACHI: Water supply to parts of Karachi has been affected after a power breakdown at the Dhabeji pumping station on Sunday, with the outage already disrupting the supply of around 100 million gallons of water, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) said.

The power supply to the pumping station was disrupted at around 6am after a fire broke out in bushes near the facility, damaging cables and forcing several pumps to shut down.

According to the KWSC, power to three phases of the pumping station — the third and fourth phases and the K-3 Pump House — was suspended following the cable fault.

Ten of the station’s 21 pumps were rendered non-functional as a result of the outage, the water utility said.

The KWSC spokesperson said the power breakdown had continued for nine hours and that the city had so far been deprived of around 100 million gallons of water.

If electricity is not restored, water supply could be affected in parts of New Karachi, North Karachi, Baldia Town, Orangi Town, Lyari and Gulshan-i-Iqbal, the spokesperson said.

The KWSC said its officials were in contact with K-Electric to restore the power supply and that the affected pumps would be brought back online immediately after electricity was restored.

A K-Electric spokesperson said a fire in bushes near the pumping station had caused the cable fault.

The power utility said its technical team was at the site and coordinating with KWSC officials to restore electricity, adding that all possible assistance was being provided.

K-Electric has also started work to reconnect the damaged cable, according to the KWSC.

Dhabeji pumping station is Karachi’s primary water intake point and relies heavily on an uninterrupted power supply. Even a temporary power outage can disrupt pumping operations and affect water supplies to large parts of the city.

The KWSC said the situation was being monitored and appealed to citizens to avoid unnecessary water consumption until the power supply and pumping operations were restored.