RAWALPINDI, Feb 18: The water level in Simly, Khanpur and Mangla dams has risen by 27, 11 and 42 feet, respectively, after the continuous rains for the last three days, sources said.

The water level in Simly Dam, which had dropped to below 2,270 feet only two days ago, rose to 2,297 feet above sea level by 3pm on Tuesday with a steady inflow continuing.

The CDA director water supply, Samiullah Jan, told Dawn that an almost normal water supply of upto 27 million gallon per day (MGD) or even more from the reservoir could be restored.

“However, the supply cannot be enhanced immediately because the water has a very high level of sediments. We will wait for at least two days, during which silt and other sediments will settle down and then we will start drawing water into the treatment plant, probably, to the maximum output potential,” he said.

Only a few days ago, the authority started rationing in the supply of water to the federal capital, as the output from Simly treatment plant dropped to 17 MGD. In various sectors, specially the thickly-populated ‘I’ and ‘G’ series, people had already started complaining about water shortage.

The director water supply said the situation would now improve within the next two or three days.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday afternoon, sources in the CDA said the inflow of water at the Simly dam had dropped because the rain in the catchment areas had subsided and it might not attain the optimum level of 2,305 feet above sea level.

However, late in the evening, they said the people living in the settlements close to Korang River had been warned to shift to safer places because there were chances that some time during the night the spillways might be opened for the over-flow.

Rana Javed Ali, the chief resident engineer (CRE) with the CDA, who monitors the reservoir situation, remained busy at the Simly Dam throughout the day.

Sources at the Simly Dam told this reporter that the spillway gates were tested during the day to check operational technicalities.

Our Reporter From Pindi Adds: The water level of Khanpur Dam had dropped to dead mark before the rains. However, after the 11 feet increase in its level on Tuesday, the reservoir now has enough water storage to continue supply upto June, director water supply of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board, Col Abdur Rehman (retired), said.

After the increase in the reservoir’s water level, the RCB on Tuesday resumed taking its full share of supply from the dam.

The RCB’s share had been reduced by half, from seven million gallons water per day to 3.5 mgd, resulting in rationing of water in areas like Kamalabad, Tench Bhata, Allama Iqbal Colony, some lanes on Peshawar Road, Misrial Road, Mughalabad and Azizabad.

The residents of these localities had to face severe water shortage after the rationing system was introduced. Full supply to the consumers in these localities will now be restored, Mr Rehman said.

Apart from this, the rains will also improve the underground water table, resulting in increased supply from tube-wells. The RCB has about 75 tube-wells, the water level of which had almost reached the dead level owing to the delay in rains.