KARACHI, Aug 5: The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has said that the electricity outage at the Gharo, Pipri and Dhabeji pumping stations not only caused 500 million gallons daily shortfall in the water supply to the city, but also caused heavy damage to KWSB supply and sewerage pumps and other equipment.

According to a handout issued by the water board, the pumping stations are responsible for a major supply to Karachi, providing 550mgd, which is pumped from the Dhabeji pumping station to Karachi via the Gharo and Pipri stations.

“Due to the fluctuation in the pressure, a 72-inch diameter water line burst at around 5am on Sunday whereas two pumps were severely damaged in the process. After the disruption in supply from Dhabeji, citizens of Karachi were relying on the Hub pumping station for their water supply. However, another outage caused by technical faults in KESC lines completely disconnected the water supply to Karachi.

“KWSB managing director Misbahuddin Farid taking immediate notice of the situation surveyed the Dhabeji, Gharo and Pipri stations. Chief engineer Zaheer Abbas also went to Dhabeji with his team as soon as the line burst to start the repair work. Water supply was resumed at 9am on Sunday morning,” it was stated.

“The electricity outage and disruption in the supply did not only damage the water supply equipment, it also damaged the sewerage system especially in the old city areas and sewerage lines in the south region leaked at several spots. Moreover, sewerage equipment at the Jameela pumping station at Ranchore Line, Lea Market pumping station, Chakiwara pumping station and Clifton pumping stations are badly damaged,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, a KWSB spokesperson has appealed to the citizens of Karachi to stock water during the crisis since it will take them some time to resume the supply.