K-IV pipeline work delays University Road reopening to Dec 31

The management of the K-IV water augmentation project has set December 31, 2026, as the new completion date for pipeline work between Nipa Chowrangi and Hassan Square on University Road in Karachi. The deadline has slipped again after commuters have dealt with dug-up roads and traffic bottlenecks for years.

The 2.7-kilometre stretch was supposed to be finished in four months. Nearly a year after work began, the pipeline installation is still incomplete. Under the Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project (KWSSIP), 96-inch and 72-inch pipelines are being laid there. The work was originally scheduled for completion in February 2026 but has repeatedly missed deadlines. The delay also raises questions about the pace of the larger plan to lay 94 kilometres of pipelines across the city.

University Road is also the site of the Red Line bus rapid transit project, where work has been under way since 2021. One carriageway remains unusable for traffic, which has made routine travel difficult for commuters and businesses along the road.

The excavation has repeatedly disrupted existing water, sewerage and gas infrastructure, causing recurring water supply problems for residents of Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Last week a 33-inch pipeline was damaged, leaving several localities without a fully restored supply.

Contractor Abdul Rehman told The Express Tribune that existing water and sewerage lines, along with K-Electric and Sui Southern Gas Company infrastructure, complicated the work, and that workers had to proceed cautiously to protect them. He said around 40 feet of the 96-inch pipeline remained to be laid and hoped the work would finish by the end of December or in the first week of January.

KWSSIP Project Manager Faisal Javed acknowledged the delay but said work was progressing, and confirmed completion by December 31, 2026. He said a high-tension K-Electric line at one location had contributed to the delay. Around 100 feet must be excavated there, which is expected to take about 45 days because of the sensitive nature of the work, and the matter has been discussed with K-Electric.

Javed said hydro-testing of the installed pipelines between Hassan Square and Baitul Mukarram Mosque was completed successfully, with no problems detected around the new lines. A 1.4-kilometre stretch there is to be handed over for Red Line road construction in the first week of November, and the remaining 1.3 kilometres by December 31.