Power fault at Dhabeji disrupts Karachi water supply

KARACHI: A power breakdown at the Dhabeji pumping station damaged three major water transmission lines on Monday, disrupting supply to Karachi and creating a shortfall of 140 million gallons per day (MGD), according to the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC).

The water utility said three key 72-inch-diameter mains were affected after a sudden electricity failure at around 2:30pm. A KWSC spokesperson said one of the damaged lines was expected to be repaired by Tuesday and supply through that line would resume by the evening.

He said that once Line-5 was restored, the deficit in water supply would come down to around 50MGD to 60MGD.

According to the spokesperson, the outage hit the second phase of the Dhabeji pumping station, which is a major source of water for the city. He said the abrupt interruption in electricity stopped operations and created back pressure in the system, which led to the rupture of two PRCC lines and one MS line.

“The sudden loss of electricity brought operations to a halt, causing back pressure in the system that ruptured two PRCC lines and one MS line,” he said.

The KWSC spokesperson also blamed repeated and unannounced power interruptions by K-Electric for destabilising Karachi’s water supply network.

“Such outages not only disrupt daily operations but also damage critical infrastructure, driving up maintenance costs and operational challenges,” he added.

K-Electric, however, said a cable fault had affected the Dhabeji pumping station. The utility stated that despite the fault, electricity supply remained available to 18 of the station’s 22 motors.

The remaining four motors were being powered through alternate sources.

Repair work under way

The disruption comes as Karachi’s water system remains sensitive to interruptions at Dhabeji, one of the city’s critical pumping facilities. KWSC said repair work on one of the damaged mains was expected to allow partial restoration by Tuesday evening, reducing the scale of the shortfall.

The corporation’s account and K-Electric’s statement differed in emphasis. While KWSC linked the ruptures to a sudden power breakdown and said repeated unannounced outages were affecting operations, K-Electric said the issue stemmed from a cable fault and maintained that most motors at the station continued to receive power.

The incident affected three main supply lines feeding the metropolis and led to a substantial reduction in daily water availability for the city. Officials did not indicate in the statement how long full restoration of all damaged lines would take, but said one line would be brought back into operation first to ease the shortage.