ISLAMABAD, Dec 21: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) will introduce water rationing if there are no rains by the end of this month, so that the existing reserves of water may last till the next monsoon, a senior official of the CDA has revealed.

Talking to Dawn on Friday, the official said the water level in Simly Dam — the main source of drinking water for Islamabad — was 16 feet lower than the normal for this season. He said the dam’s water level was recorded at 2,279 feet on Friday against the normal level of 2,295 feet.

The official said the paucity of rains was the main reason for the declining water level in the dam.

Responding to a question, he said some 250 complaints of water scarcity were being received daily these days and entertained on a first-come-first-serve basis.

He said a total of 65 million gallons per day (mgd) of water were being supplied in Islamabad. However, this supply could be reduced by 35mgd in case of a lack of rains till the end of the current month, he added. The 27mgd of water supply from Simly Dam may be squeezed by 15mgd.

The official said some 1mgd water was being supplied from the Kurang-I water supply scheme which would be stopped if there were no rains. The supply of water from Kurang-II has already been stopped during the current dry spell.

The 6mgd of water supply from the Khanpur Dam, 0.3mgd from Saidpur scheme and 0.5mgd from Shadara could also be stopped in case of no rains by the end of this month.

Some 0.2mgd of water is being supplied from the Noorpur Shahan water supply scheme.

The present supply of water from 180 tubewells in the federal capital is stated to be 23mgd, which is likely to be reduced by 10mgd.

The 6mgd of water supply from the augmentation water supply schemes could be reduced by 2mgd, the official maintained.