May 7, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1427

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TAXILA, May 6: Water at Khanpur Dam is fast receding to the dead level adding to the worries of civic agencies of Rawalpindi and Islamabad which already are facing severe water crisis.

Currently, water level at the dam stands at 1,921 feet, just 11 feet above its dead level of 1,910 feet.

Khanpur Dam SDO Asim Rauf told Dawn on Saturday that if water was supplied at the existing proportions, the available quantity would serve for a maximum of 25 days.

He said 64.58 cusecs of water was being released daily against the inflow of just two cusecs. Streams and water channels have dried up because of below normal rains and snowfall last winter and the persistent dry spell this season, he added.

The SDO said according to the Water Management Board’s formula, daily water share of different beneficiaries was 46 cusecs for Islamabad and Rawalpindi, 13 cusecs for NWFP and two cusecs for the Punjab for irrigation purposes, two cusecs for Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) , 0.4 cusecs for Project Management Organization (PMO) and 1.18 cusecs for a cement factory in Sangjani.

Meanwhile, experts predict severest water crisis in Rawalpindi after 1996 due to current water shortage in the Khanpur Dam.

If the situation does not improve, civic agencies of the twin cities would have to further cut the water supply to their consumers. They said only plentiful rains could bring relief from the looming water crisis.

The experts also said that water table in Taxila and Wah was receding sharply, reducing the water available through tubewells.