Karachi

Karachi’s water supply crisis worsened on Monday as power outages disrupted operations for the third consecutive day, leaving residents struggling in extreme heat, according to Dawn.

 The disruption was triggered after supply from the Hub Pumping Station was suspended due to a fault in K-Electric’s main cable. The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) said the outage has created a daily water shortfall of around 85 million gallons. However, K-Electric claimed that power was restored through alternative arrangements.

The city has been facing a severe water shortage for nearly two months, including during Eid al-Adha. Earlier, supply was also affected on May 30 when a forced shutdown at Dhabeji Grid was carried out to repair a technical fault in a power transformer. This led to the shutdown of 10 of 21 pumping units, stopping water flow to several areas.

The crisis worsened further when the K-II Pumping Station also stopped working, creating an additional shortfall of 54 million gallons per day. Even after partial restoration of power, the city had already faced a total shortage of 122 million gallons.

On Monday, the new cable fault again cut power to the Hub Pumping Station, deepening the crisis. Residents across Karachi are now depending on expensive water tankers and private suppliers as regular supply has become unreliable. Long queues, dry taps, and rising costs have added to public hardship amid inflation and economic stress.

Reports say the crisis began in late March and continues due to pipeline leaks, aging infrastructure, repeated breakdowns, and frequent power failures at pumping stations. Authorities have struggled to restore stable supply, leaving many areas without consistent access to clean water for weeks. The situation has severely affected daily life across the city.