KARACHI, Aug 13: The 72-inch mainline supplying water to the city burst near Dhabeji on the eve of Independence Day on Tuesday.

The supply line’s burst was stated to be caused by frequent power breakdowns at the KWSB’s vital pumping stations.

The bursting of the main supply line combined with frequent power failures at Dhabeji, Pipri, Gharo and North-East Karachi (both old and new) pumping stations on Monday and Tuesday due to tripping of a transformer at Dhabeji grid station had already caused a shortfall of more than 155 million gallons of water by Tuesday evening. It means that most parts of the city will either go completely dry or receive scant supply on Independence Day.

Admitting that almost the entire city will remain in the grip of serious water shortage on Wednesday and Tuesday, sources in the KWSB said at a time when Wapda officials were not providing the agreed quantity of water to the city from Hub dam, the burst in the Dhabeji’s 72-inch dia Rising Main had caused a setback to the KWSB which was at present depending entirely on water through the Indus source.

“Wapda officials, as per decision of the high-powered committee for Hub water supply, were bound to supply 45 mgd of water to the city from the Hub dam reservoir for three consecutive days after every two days, but they have released only 36 mgd into the Hub Canal during the past 72 hours. As a result, the areas hooked to the Hub source have already been facing serious water shortage for the past couple of days,” the KWSB sources said.

“Frequent power failures which began taking place at Dhabeji, Pipri and Gharo since Monday morning have not only resulted in the bursting of the Rising Main but have also damaged sensitive equipment at these pumping stations,” they said, adding that repair work of the pipeline had begun and it was expected to be completed in the next 24 hours.

Giving details of the power breakdowns that kept on occurring at the major water installations, the sources said five power breakdowns occurred at Dhabeji pumping station on Monday and Tuesday. There was no electricity at Dhabeji pumping station first on Monday from 10am to 10:10am, then on Tuesday from 5:55am to 6:30am, from 7:20am to 8:25am, from 8:50 am to 9:25am and again from 12:15 pm to 3:05 pm.

About Gharo pumping station, the KWSB officials said there was no electricity from 6:45am to 9:55am, from 9:20am to 10:45am; from 11:25am to 11:40pm and lastly from 12:25pm to 1:05pm on Tuesday. Similarly, power failures kept on occurring at Pipri pumping station at frequent intervals on Tuesday, besides there was no electricity at North East Karachi (old and new) pumping stations from 7:30pm to 7:45pm on Tuesday.