KARACHI: Residents continued to face a worsening water crisis as repeated power outages disrupted the city’s water pumping operations on Friday, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) said on Friday.

A KWSC spokesperson told Dawn that frequent power breakdowns at the Dhabeji and other pumping stations have caused an estimated total shortage of 335 million gallons of water, severely affecting the supply across Karachi.

Areas such as North Nazimabad, Gulberg Town, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Scheme 33, various blocks of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, New Karachi, Saddar and Clifton are among those experiencing severe shortages.

The spokesperson said that the city’s crucial K-III pumping station in North Karachi experienced a major power breakdown late on Thursday night.

However, the KE claimed in a statement on Friday evening that power supply had been restored to the North East Karachi Pumping Station after fixing the underground cable fault. It said that the power utility faced problems in repair work due to accumulation of water.

The KWSC spokesperson recalled the station had also faced a significant breakdown on Nov 18, with electricity restored only a day ago after a 41-hour delay. Just hours later, the cable fault reappeared, forcing the station to shut down again.

The station had been temporarily shut down on Monday to fix technical issues, but problems persisted, he added.

KWSC officials stated that despite all administrative and technical efforts, the lack of consistent electricity supply continued to impact pumping operations.

They urged KE management to prioritise the immediate and stable restoration of power to pumping stations to ensure that the water supply to Karachi was quickly normalised.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2025