Karachi faces shortfall of 240 million gallons of water in recent days.
KWSC urges KE to restore power to prevent worsening water crisis.
Electricity supplier blames illegal connections, infrastructure strain.
KARACHI: The residents of the port city are not strangers to loadshedding, however, frequent power breakdowns are now adding to their woes by severely disrupting the operations of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) and causing significant interruptions in the city’s water supply, The News reported on Monday citing a KWSC spokesperson.
The spokesperson said power outages at the KWSC’s installations persist unabated, adding that just 24 hours after power was restored at the Dumlottee Pumping Station, another outage occurred, halting water supply to different areas, including Malir Cantonment, Khokhrapar and Memon Goth.
While electricity has been restored at the North East Karachi Old Pump House, several other major facilities continue to remain without power, lamented the spokesperson.
The spokesperson said that a power failure occurred at the Dhabeji Pumping Station at 10pm on Thursday, adding that over 70 hours have passed without resolution, leaving the station inoperative and intensifying the crisis.
Additionally, the spokesperson pointed out, two major pumps at the K-III Pump House are currently shut down due to the ongoing outage, which is severely affecting water distribution in densely populated areas, including Nazimabad, New Karachi, Landhi and Korangi.
“As a result, the city has suffered a shortfall of approximately 240 million gallons of water over the past 70 hours, compounding the challenges faced by residents already struggling to meet their daily water needs.”
The KWSC has issued a strong appeal to the KE authorities to immediately restore power to all the affected installations to prevent worsening the crisis and furthering the hardships of the city’s residents.
‘Illegal connections, infrastructure strain’
Meanwhile, KE issued a press statement saying that amid Karachi’s first monsoon spell spanning nearly three days, KE teams remained actively engaged across the city to ensure power restoration and public safety.
The electricity provider’s spokesperson said that while the vast majority of their 2,100 plus feeders remained stable, isolated outages were reported due to illegal connections, lack of strict adherence to safety protocols, and infrastructure strain.
“All such cases were immediately addressed, with field teams dispatched despite rain. Restoration efforts were also prioritised at key water pumping stations, including Dhabeji and North East Karachi (NEK) old pumping station, which supplies water to limited areas.”
The spokesperson said NEK-II and NEK-III were operational throughout, adding that major supplies to the KWSC remained operational from KE’s end, while a fault observed at the consumer side of the NEK old pump impacted local supply.
He said KE’s ground teams were promptly deployed to begin restoration work, and the fault was repaired, adding that teams were actively deployed to the Dhabeji pumping station, but due to waterlogging, the maintenance team faced hurdles.
He offered condolences over the safety incidents reported during the first monsoon spell. He clarified that five of these incidents did not involve KE infrastructure.
He pointed out that in two cases, illegal tampering had created unsafe conditions. For example, he said, the incident in Korangi 32-B occurred inside consumer premises while an electrician was repairing a water motor.
Similarly, he added, the incidents in SITE Area, Surjani Town and New Karachi Sector 11-J were traced to internal wiring faults within the respective premises.
“At Manghopir, no current leakage from KE’s system was found. In Korangi Sector 9, illegal shifting of a service bracket at under-construction premises led to an unfortunate incident, while in Clifton Block 5, an attempted theft of an underground LT cable damaged a feeder pillar box and cable, triggering the incident.”
He further noted that the incident in Lyari is under investigation, with the initial findings indicating no connection to KE infrastructure. “The KE reiterates its appeal to the public to avoid any kind of contact with power infrastructure, maintain a safe distance, especially during rains, and report unsafe conditions via 118 or KE’s WhatsApp service.”
The spokesperson said that as monsoon activity continues, ensuring public safety requires both operational vigilance and citizen responsibility. “Strict adherence to safety guidelines and timely coordination between utilities and civic bodies remain essential to minimising risk and maintaining urban resilience”.