Karachi to break ground on Rs14bn Dumlottee waterline to end DHA's water shortage

Work on a dedicated 38-kilometre waterline to carry water from Dumlottee to Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) will begin next week, Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab has announced, a project residents hope will finally ease one of the city’s most persistent water shortages.

The mayor was speaking at an interactive session with DHA residents hosted by Defence Society Residents Association (DSRA) president Sharfuddin Memon, also attended by PPP MNA Mirza Ikhtiar Baig and the Chief Minister’s Adviser Najmi Alam.

The plan

The over-ground pipeline will run about 38km from Dumlottee to Masjid-i-Ayesha, on the edge of DHA’s phases 6 and 7. It will supply 10 million gallons a day (MGD), on top of the four to five MGD DHA currently receives.

“This is not a hollow commitment,” the mayor said. The government has approved Rs14 billion for the project, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) and the Frontier Works Organisation have signed a contract, and groundbreaking is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29.

The idea grew out of an existing model. When he became mayor, Wahab said, he noticed an above-ground waterline dedicated to the SITE industrial area. The city then built a similar dedicated line for Lyari, and is now doing the same for DHA.

Faster, and cheaper

The contract allows 18 months for completion, but the mayor said he is pushing for 12, warning that delays would drive up construction costs.

He also argued that the pipeline is far more economical than desalination. Water from a desalination plant would have cost about Rs4 per gallon, he said, compared with 70 to 80 paisa per gallon through the pipeline.

The mayor added a personal note: he lives in DHA himself, and his own family depends on water tankers.

Residents’ concerns

DHA residents welcomed the project but raised practical questions. DSRA president Memon said the area needs around 10 MGD or more but receives only four to five, and recalled that a previous desalination plant, DHA Cogen, reportedly worked for just two or three months. He also warned that government projects are often delayed “until people give up on them”.

Residents also asked whether Dumlottee has enough water, noting reports that only three or four of its 12 historic wells still work. The mayor explained that Dumlottee is only the junction point in the system, where around 300 MGD is available, and the new line will draw from that flow rather than the old wells.

MNA Baig, who said he had been pushing for a dedicated DHA line since 2024, welcomed the project as affordable and sustainable, and proposed a committee of residents to monitor progress and keep it on track. Once water reaches Masjid-i-Ayesha, KWSC will be responsible for distributing it across DHA, with domestic consumers given priority.

More than water

The session also touched on other civic issues. The mayor outlined plans for flyovers at congested junctions in DHA, and said parks should be sustained through recreational activities that also generate revenue. Adviser Najmi Alam raised concerns about law and order, drug use among young people and street begging in the area.

Why it matters

Water is Karachi’s most pressing civic challenge. Across the city, households spend heavily on tankers, and shortages affect rich and poor neighbourhoods alike. A dedicated line that delivers water at a fraction of the cost of desalination, and on a firm timetable, would show that targeted infrastructure can make a real difference. Other provinces are pursuing their own major projects, from Punjab’s Safe City expansion to Quetta’s first mass transit train.

This article draws on reporting published by Dawn.