Travelers along University Road have suffered through torn-up pavement, traffic bottlenecks, and constant interruptions for five years. Management of the K-IV water augmentation project between Nipa Chowrangi and Hassan Square pushed the completion target to December 31, 2026, marking yet another missed deadline.
This 2.7-kilometre portion was initially planned for a four-month completion window. Yet, nearly a year after digging started, the pipe installation is still incomplete, bringing into question the speed of the wider effort to place 94 kilometers of pipelines throughout the city.
This setback worsens the daily struggles for people traveling and running shops along University Road, where construction for the Red Line bus rapid transit project has continued since 2021. With one carriageway blocked off to vehicles, ordinary commutes have turned into exhausting trials.
The Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project (KWSSIP) involves putting down 96-inch and 72-inch pipelines between Nipa Chowrangi and Hassan Square. Initial plans aimed for a February 2026 finish, but the schedule has slipped multiple times.
Excavation activities have repeatedly damaged local water, sewage, and gas utility lines, creating persistent water shortages for people living in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Just last week, a 33-inch pipeline broke, cutting off normal water service to multiple neighborhoods.
Contractor Abdul Rehman explained that buried water, sewerage, K-Electric, and Sui Southern Gas Company lines complicated the job, forcing crews to work carefully around existing utilities.
He noted that roughly 40 feet of the 96-inch pipeline still needed installation, while sharing his expectation that the segment would finish by late December or the opening week of January.
KWSSIP Project Manager Faisal Javed admitted the schedule slipped but insisted progress continues, verifying that the augmentation initiative will wrap up by December 31, 2026.
He pointed out that a high-tension K-Electric cable at one spot slowed down progress, forcing laborers to dig about 100 feet over roughly 45 days because of safety concerns.
Javed reported that crews finished hydro-testing the newly placed pipes between Hassan Square and Baitul Mukarram Mosque with positive results.
A 1.4-kilometre section will be given over for Red Line road building during the first week of November, and the remaining 1.3 kilometers will be handed over by December 31.
