Mumbai will continue to see 10% water cut until its reservoirs do not reach 75% of their capacity, an official said on Sunday.
The monsoon reached Mumbai in the last week of June this year. At the time, water stock of all the seven dams / reservoirs had gone below 10%. The BMC received permission from the state government to use 150 million litres daily reserve water stock from the Bhatsa and Upper Vaitarna dams. Still there was uncertainty of rain. Therefore, the Hydraulic Department of the BMC declared 10% water cut in the city from July 1.
Inadequate rainfalls in the catchment areas
Now 15 days have passed but rainfall in the catchment areas is not satisfactory. As of Sunday, water stock was 4,70,621million litre, which was 32.52% of the total 14,47,363 million litres. Last year on July 16, the water stock was at 11,38,097 million litres, or 78% of the total stock.
According to the BMC officer, the water cut will not be lifted till the dams reached 70% storage capacity. The current 32.52% stock is sufficient till the month of October.
Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tanasa, Madhya Vaitarna, Bhatsa, Vihar and Tulsi are the seven lakes that supplying 3,850 million litres of water to Mumbai every day. For the past few years, the monsoon is getting delayed therefore, the BMC had to impose water cut to maintain supply. Last year, the BMC lifted the water cut within a month of its declaration but this year Mumbaikars will have to wait for few more days.
Current status of lakes (million litres)
Uppar Vaitarna: 20,586
Modak Sagar: 71,021
Tansa: 87,877
Madhya Vaitarna: 87,475
Bhatsa: 18,4752
Vihar: 13,341
Tulsi: 5,569
Water stock on July 16 in the last three years
2023: 47,0621
2022: 11,38097
2021: 24,9460
