ISLAMABAD: At a time when the city is confronting with a water scarcity issue, the civic agency due to a shortage of storing capacity is spilling water from Simly Dam.

The dam is the main source of water for Islamabad. The recent rain filled it up to its maximum capacity; therefore, the civic agency opened its spillway on Thursday to reduce the water by two feet.

An official working at the dam told Dawn that the dam attained its maximum conservation level, and water level was 2315.45 feet this morning. The spillway was opened in the afternoon to reduce the water level by 2 feet.

The CDA has been providing 70 million gallon per day to citizens of Islamabad against the actual need of over 280 mgd from its three main sources – Simly Dam, Khanpur Dam and Tubewells to urban population.

The rural population is dependent either on bore water or small water schemes of the district government.

Simly Dam provides around 30mgd. However, during the last one month, the spillways were opened at least for six times to reduce the water level, as dam’s catchment area, which falls in Murree, received heavy rains.

It is relevant to note here that the CDA could not add any new reservoir during the last three decades while the population of the city has been facing a massive increase.

According to documents available with Dawn, Islamabad’s water demand is 283 mgd (246 mgd actual and 37mgd distribution losses). There is a demand-supply gap of more than 175 mgd. The shortfall is being managed through rationing, supplying water intermittently and on alternate days in some areas.

In the past, on several occasions, announcements were made for construction of two small dams: Chinot dam in catchment area of Simly to avoid loss of water through spillways, and Shahdara Dam. However, such projects are yet to move beyond files.

Similarly, every year during monsoon, huge volume of water is spilled from Rawal Dam, which falls in Islamabad but is a property of Punjab government as it supplies water to residents of Rawalpindi. As the government has no storage capacity, this water lands in Sohan River before entering into Jhelum River.

The issue of water shortage in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi is a chronic one and the incumbent federal government recently formed a task force headed by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi for resolving the issue. The federal government also wants to set up a new independent body to look after the affairs of water projects. This body will focus on main Ghazi Barotha project for brining 100 million gallon per day each for Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

When contacted, CDA spokesperson Shahid Kiani said various steps were being taken to overcome water shortage in Islamabad, including chargeable wells and tanks while the feasibility study of Shahdara and Chinot dams was being conducted.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2025