KARACHI: Power cut hits water supply in city areas
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Sept 25: Water supply to various parts of the city will be affected on Friday owing to a major power breakdown that occurred at Dhabeji (Phase-II) pump house on Thursday.
A press release issued by the city government’s water and sanitation department on Thursday said that the pump house experienced power breakdown at 5.40am on Thursday, and power was restored at 3.20pm the same day, causing a shortfall of over 40 million gallons of water.
Asked about the impact of the short supply of water on the city, sources in the W&S department told Dawn that most parts of the city, except for those localities hooked to Pipri pumping station, would get water supply with a low pressure.
“In fact, overall supply to the city will be affected as many parts of the city will get scant supply with a low pressure,” he added.
However, the localities, whose supply would remain normal, include Landhi, Korangi, Shah Faisal Town and some other areas getting supply from the Pipri.
Meanwhile, acute water shortage continued to persist in various parts of the city on Thursday.
Most of such complaints have been received from Ranchore Lane, Kharadar, Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s blocks 2, 13-D/I and 13-D/2, Jut Land Lines, and different sectors of Orangi, Baldia and North Karachi.
The other localities which went without water on Thursday as part of the W&S department’s plan of diverting Indus water to the localities hooked to the Hub dam source, included Landhi, Korangi, Defence Housing Authority, National Refinery, Karachi Port Trust and Pakistan Railways.
Taking undue advantage of the water shortage, private tankers continued to charge exorbitant rates in the water-starved localities.
A large number of tankers were seen on various main thoroughfares of the city, making quick trips between hydrants and water-starved localities and causing slippery conditions on roads due to their leaking nozzles.
SUSPENSION DEFERRED: Water supply to the city from the Hub dam source, which was earlier scheduled to be suspended from Sept 26, has now been deferred till Sept 29, on the request of Balochistan government.
Supply from the source will now be suspended from Sept 29 for 20 days, in two phases — first from Sept 29 to Oct 8 and second from Oct 14 to Oct 23 — while supply to the city from the source will continue from Oct 9 to Oct 13.
The supply is being suspended to carry out repair and desilting work at both the Wapda’s Hub main and the KWSB’s Karachi Supply canals, which have been lying in bad condition since long, and resulting in wastage of a considerable quantity of water.
The Hub main canal is maintained by Wapda, Karachi Supply canal, which was handed over to the KWSB by Wapda in 2001, is now being looked after by the city government’s water and sanitation department, while the maintenance of Lasbella Branch Canal is the responsibility of Balochistan government.
Although the Hub dam’s reservoir had attained its full supply mark of 339 feet on July 29 in the wake of recent rains, both the beneficiaries of Hub dam, Karachi and Lasbella, were unable to draw their full quota from the source owing to dilapidated condition of both the canals.
However, with the completion of repairs and strengthening works of both the canals, Hub main canal and Karachi Supply canal, the city will be in a position to draw 100 million gallons of water per day from the Hub dam reservoir, which had replenished in the wake of recent rains.
Sources in the city government’s water and sanitation department told Dawn that the city would gradually start getting 100 mgd of water as against current supply of 24 mgd from the Hub source from Oct 24.
Besides, the weekly water-holiday system, which was being enforced in the localities hooked to Indus source since October last, for diverting Indus water to the localities getting supply from Hub source, might also be done away with upon restoration of 100 mgd water from the Hub source, the sources said
During the both phases of closure, the localities hooked to the Hub source, which include sprawling townships of Orangi, Baldia, Surjani, North Karachi, Shershah, SITE (both the residential and industrial areas), Mianwali Colony, etc., will continue to be supplied Indus water to the tune of 52 mgd — 42 mgd from Ajmair Nagri pumping station and 10 mgd from Board Office pumping station, they added.
Replying to a question about quantity of water during the closure, the sources said that though the quantity of water being supplied to those areas from the Indus source would remain unchanged, their gap of getting the supply might increase from 72 hours to about 102 hours.
During the closure period, the major works expected to be undertaken include, repairing of both the Hub and Karachi Supply canals’s aqua-ducts, seepages, lining of block masonry works, removal of silt and weed, cleaning and strengthening of pipelines from Hub pumping station, its 200-feet high rising main, desilting of Hub reservoir, plugging of leakages developed in both the 66 and 48-inches dia pipelines, repairing of leakages developed in Karachi Supply canal’s expansion joints and 54-inch dia pipeline which passes through New Karachi’s Saba Cinema roundabout and Manghopir Road.
