ISLAMABAD, May 25: The number of complaints about water shortage has swelled by 400 per cent in the federal capital as a total of 1,000 complaints per day are being received these days due to water shortage.

"Before water rationing was started by the CDA two months ago, about 200 complaints were being received daily," a source in the water supply directorate told Dawn on Monday. The CDA is supplying water on alternate days to ensure that the existing reserves last next six or seven months, the source added.

He said the CDA could not entertain all 1,000 complaints in a day, thus more than 50 per cent complaints remained unattended. The CDA directorate of Machine Pool Organization has been directed to repair all out-of-order water tankers to improve tanker service, the source said.

He said the authority had not officially announced that it had started water rationing, as a result of which consumers were facing inconvenience. When contacted, a CDA official agreed that water shortage was being experienced in the city.

He said the situation would become normal if water level in Simly Dam improved. The authority, he said, had squeezed water supply by 13 million gallon per day (MGD) due to inadequate rains in the catchment areas of Simly Dam.