KARACHI: The water shortage crisis in the city, which is already receiving less than half of its required water supply, is deepening because of suspension of supply from main pumping stations twice in recent days, while on the other hand, authorities have claimed that the supply would be normalised, a top official said on Wednesday.

He also expressed the hope that the new pumping station installed at the Dhabeji pumping station would start operation within the next few days which would further reduce the pressure.

However, he added that the recent damage to key pipelines in the city due to fast eroding infrastructure remained a source of concern which had caused wastage of hundreds of gallons of water recently.

“Unfortunately 72-inch pipeline at the central Dhabeji pumping station burst due to power breakdown twice in a week,” said Sindh Local Bodies Minister Saeed Ghani.

“That caused suspension in water supply for a few days. It took time to get it normalised, but then within the city some key pipelines were damaged which affected the supply to a couple of districts. The supply has turned normal and situation would improve in a day or two,” he added.

Due to recent suspension of supply from Dhabeji, old city areas of Lyari and Keamari, Korangi, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Malir, Landhi, Model Colony, Manzoor Colony, Mehmoodabad, Ahsanabad, Gulshan-i-Maymar and Orangi Town were among the areas which remained badly affected.

The minister said the city was facing acute water shortages as it was receiving close to 500MGD against demand of 1,100MGD.

The Sindh government had allocated enough funds for development of water resources and supply as well as improved the sewerage system, which would improve the situation within the next two years, he claimed.

“In this budget, allocation for the Greater Karachi Sewerage Plan is Rs5bn,” he said. “There is a mega project called S-III with a budget of Rs36.11bn and it is under implementation since last over a decade. Similarly, the Sindh government has allocated Rs800m for the ongoing Greater Karachi Water Supply project, also known as K-IV. We are also working on multiple proposals to finalise them for recycling of water and contain its wastage.”

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2019