ISLAMABAD, July 28: Water supply from Simly dam, the main source of drinking water for the residents of Islamabad, has been suspended for the last three days due to some fault in an intake tower of the dam.

As a result of fault developed in the intake tower, water supply from the dam has been declined to 46 million gallon per day (MGD) against the normal supply of 80MGD.

The areas, which are facing water scarcity due to the fault, include sectors like G-6, E-7, F-7, F-8 and subsectors G-9/4 and G-7/3.

Capital Development Authority (CDA) has however, acquired the assistance of the irrigation department to remove the fault.

When contacted, an official of the CDA said the intake tower of the dam through which the dam’s water was supplied to the filtration plant had an old fault and the Authority had tried a number of times to remove it.

He said due to the fault, the tower gates could not move up and downwards.

“Owing to non-functioning of the gates, water could destroy the filtration plant in case of floods,” he said.

The official said the assistance of the irrigation department was sought and its engineers had managed to shut the gates to carry out the repair work. He said the gates of the intake tower remained closed for three consecutive days.

He said the engineers had removed the fault and normal water supply from the dam, which is 42MGD, will be restored from Tuesday.

The official was of the view that it was necessary to remove the fault otherwise the current rainy spell could create flood-like situation in Islamabad.

He said present supply of water in Islamabad is 80MGD including 42MGD from Simly Dam, 23MGD from 180 tube- wells, 7MGD from water augmentation scheme and 6MGD from Badhana Reservoir, which has been established near Khanpur Dam. Some 4MGD water was being supplied from other sources, he added.

The official appealed to the residents to avoid wastage of water.