A major pipeline ruptured Friday evening during ongoing Red Line construction activities.
KARACHI:
For residents of Gulshan-e-Iqbal and several adjacent neighborhoods, development projects intended to modernize the city have become a source of daily hardship. As excavation work for the BRT Red Line, the K-IV project, and road improvements continues along University Road, repeated water main breaks have left thousands fighting for every drop, revealing a chronic lack of coordination among civic agencies.
Repair work on the 48-inch water transmission line damaged during Red Line construction near the University Road corridor has been completed, officials announced Sunday. Piped water supply is expected to resume between Sunday and Monday evening once safety assessments are completed.
The main pipeline ruptured on Friday evening during the ongoing construction activities of the Red Line, disrupting water supply to several localities including various blocks of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, PIB Colony, Liaquatabad, Nazimabad and Gulberg. According to Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) officials, the damaged section of the pipeline stretches for around eight feet.
Authorities said water has not yet been released into the pipe because high pressure inside the system could cause additional damage if repairs are not sufficiently stabilized. Additional time is therefore required before normal operations can safely resume.
Even as repairs on the main pipeline were completed, another disruption occurred on Sunday when a six-inch water pipe was damaged near Hasan Square during construction work on the Red Line. The incident affected water supply to Block 13-D/3 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Baloch Goth.
The latest damage follows a series of similar incidents in the same area. Days earlier, two sections of a 15-inch pipeline were reportedly damaged during work on the K-IV project.
