KARACHI: Driven to desperation by water crisis in the city and mainly in Central district, a large number of residents of North Nazimabad, Buffer Zone, Nusrat Bhutto Colony and Shadman Town on Sunday gathered at the Sakhi Hassan water hydrant to protest against the prolonged disruption in water supply to their areas.

With feel-like temperature soaring past 40°C and humidity adding to the misery, frustration among the public reached boiling point.

The Sakhi Hassan hydrant is the only operational hydrant supplying water to the densely populated Central district.

The protesters, including women and children, blocked both sides of the road outside the hydrant, disrupting traffic for hours.

Many carried empty water containers, which is a symbol of the growing desperation in the city, already reeling under infrastructural challenges.

Many areas continue to face severe shortage

For over a month, large parts of Karachi, particularly in the Central district, have been experiencing a severe water shortage.

Areas like Buffer Zone, North Karachi, North Nazimabad, Federal B Area and Shadman Town have reported little to no water supply for weeks, forcing residents to rely on expensive private water tankers or travel long distances to fetch water.

“This is not the first protest,” said Shahid Ali, a resident of Shadman Town. “We protested here two weeks ago. The authorities made promises, but nothing changed. We’re still without water. How long can people survive like this?”

The city’s total daily water demand is estimated at over 1,200 million gallons per day (MGD), whereas the supply falls drastically short, hovering around 550 to 600 MGD even under optimal conditions.

Both experts and officials agree that chronic infrastructure issues, rampant water theft, deep-rooted corruption within Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation and poor governance have further exacerbated the situation.

Electricity outage at Gharo pump

The fresh crisis got further deeper when the KWSC issued a statement attributing the latest disruption to a technical fault caused by a power outage at the Gharo Pumping Station — a critical component of the city’s water supply network.

According to the KWSC spokesman, a cable fault at 10:35am led to a complete shutdown of the pumping station.

“Due to a cable fault on KE’s network, the Gharo Pumping Station is non-operational at the moment,” the statement read. “We are in continuous coordination with KE to restore operations. However, the fault has not yet been resolved.”

The Gharo Pumping Station is responsible for supplying nearly 30 million gallons of water per day (MGD) to key areas of Karachi, including Port Qasim, Bin Qasim Town, Shah Faisal Town, PNS Mehran, PAF Base Faisal, and Karsaz. With its operations stalled, several districts face further strain on already stretched water resources.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2025