KARACHI: The Karachi Water & Sewerage Services Improvement Project (KWSSIP) has revised its completion timeline for the K-IV Augmentation Scheme along University Road, pushing the deadline from the Sindh Government’s target of November to December 31, 2026, with potential completion extending into early January 2027. Work on this critical 2.7 km stretch between Nipa Chowrangi and Hassan Square—originally scheduled for completion in just four months—continues to face severe bottlenecks. Regarding progress, Project Manager Faisal Javed confirmed that hydro-testing for the 1.4 km section from Hassan Square to Bait-ul-Mukarram Mosque has been successfully completed, and this portion will be handed over to the BRT Red Line team in early November for road reconstruction, while the remaining 1.3 km stretch will be handed over by year-end.
The ongoing delays are primarily driven by complex underground utility intersections involving K-Electric, SSGC, water, and sewerage lines, alongside the challenge of laying the remaining 40 feet of 96-inch diameter pipes. Contractor Abdul Rehman and project officials highlighted that a sensitive 100-foot excavation near K-Electric high-tension power lines alone will require approximately 45 days to safely navigate. These underground disruptions have repeatedly damaged local utility lines—including a recent rupture of a 33-inch pipeline—leaving residents of Gulshan-e-Iqbal facing ongoing water shortages.
This prolonged construction has severely impacted the city, forcing commuters to endure five years of severe traffic gridlock and dust pollution since the commencement of BRT Red Line work in 2021, while leaving one side of University Road entirely unusable and crippling local businesses. Furthermore, the slow pace on this short stretch has raised serious concerns among citizens regarding KWSSIP’s broader plan to lay 94 km of major augmentation pipelines across Karachi’s main arteries within a projected 22-month period.
