July 14, 2008	Monday	Rajab 10, 1429

KARACHI, July 13: Frequent and prolonged power breakdowns, besides load-shedding, in the city have badly affected pumping of drinking water at various installations of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), especially its major pumping stations at Dhabeji, Pipri and Gharo.

The KWSB on Sunday apprehended that almost the entire city could face acute water shortage because the disruption in power supply had caused a shortfall of 60 million gallons on account of curtailed pumping.A spokesman for the utility said the impact of the lapse would be felt by consumers across the city on Monday.

He said that the worst-hit would be four towns — Landhi, Korangi, Malir and Shah Faisal — as well as the Defence Housing Society, which could either go dry or receive scant water supply.

Giving details of the pumping loss, he said that a shortage of 30 million gallons per day (mgd) was noted at the Pipri pumping station, around 24mgd at the Dhabeji pumping station and its two installations (K-II and K-III) and about 7mgd at the Gharo pumping station.

Pumping at the Pipri station remained suspended for about six hours due to power failures from midnight to 4.45am and again from 10.20am to 11am on Sunday, the spokesman said.

He said the Dhabeji pumping stations and its K-II and K-III installations remained without power from 3.30pm to 4.05pm on Sunday.

At the Gharo pumping station, he said, power supply was discontinued at 11.45am and restored at 4.45pm on Sunday.

The spokesman said that pumping was affected even after the restoration of power supply due to the low voltage. He claimed that the law voltage between 4.45am and 4.40pm hampered the pumping machines’ efficiency ultimately adding to the shortfall.

He regretted that despite repeated requests, the KESC did not exempt the KWSB pumping stations from the load-shedding.

Meanwhile, complaints of water shortage were received on Sunday from several localities of the city.

The hard-hit among them were KDA Scheme-33, Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Blocks 2 and 10-A, Mehmoodabad, Manzoor Colony, Akhtar Colony, different sectors of Baldia and Keamari towns, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and PECHS E-Market along with its green-belt area.