A major power failure at Karachi’s Dhabeji pumping station on Sunday forced several pumps offline, triggering concerns over partial water supply disruption across the city, according to the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC).

What Went Wrong

The KWSC said electricity to different sections of the Dhabeji facility, the city’s main water pumping station, was suspended at around 6 am, affecting the station’s third phase, fourth phase and the K-III pump house, and knocking 10 of the station’s 21 total pumps out of operation. K-Electric, the city’s power utility, attributed the outage to a cable fault, saying a fire in nearby bushes had damaged the cables supplying electricity to the KWSC facility, and confirmed a technical team was dispatched to the site.

Why Dhabeji Matters So Much

Dhabeji serves as Karachi’s primary water pumping facility, so any disruption there has an outsized effect on the city’s overall distribution network. The KWSC said it remained in continuous contact with K-Electric to restore power as quickly as possible, confirming that all 10 affected pumps would resume operation once electricity was restored, with water supply to affected areas returning to normal only after that. The outage comes just weeks after Sindh approved a 7.05 percent hike in KWSC water charges for 2026-27, adding to residents’ frustration over service reliability even as bills continue climbing. Residents in affected areas are advised to monitor KWSC’s official updates for confirmation once supply is restored.

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