Mumbai: Mumbai’s water stock received a major boost following consistent monsoon rainfall, with the total live storage in the city’s seven lakes reaching 12.87 lakh million litres as of Saturday, August 2. According to the latest data released by the Hydraulic Engineer’s Department, this accounts for nearly 89 percent of the required annual water supply for the city.
The cumulative water stock across all reservoirs now stands at 12,87,213 million litres, out of the total required capacity of 14,47,363 million litres. This includes storage from Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa, Middle Vaitarna, Bhatsa, Vehar and Tulsi, the seven lakes that supply water to Mumbai and its suburbs.
Modak Sagar & Vehar Lakes Full
Modak Sagar and Vehar lakes have already reached full capacity and are currently holding 100 percent of their useful content. Tansa is also nearly full with 98.37 percent live storage. Tulsi is at 84.26 percent, while Bhatsa, the largest among the seven, is at 85.57 percent with over 6.13 lakh million litres of water.
Upper Vaitarna and Middle Vaitarna are at 82.76 percent and 85.21 percent of their respective storage capacities. In terms of rise in water level, Middle Vaitarna recorded a gain of 0.19 meters in the past 24 hours, while Bhatsa rose by 0.04 meters. Upper Vaitarna saw a marginal rise of 0.03 meters, whereas Tansa and Vehar both saw an increase of 0.01 and 0.02 meters respectively.
In the last 24 hours, Bhatsa received 17 mm of rainfall, Middle Vaitarna recorded 32 mm, and Vehar and Tulsi received 15 mm and 14 mm respectively. Bhandup Complex, which monitors the cumulative data, recorded 4.00 mm rainfall during the same period, taking the season’s total to 1266.00 mm.
A series of developments have also occurred over the past month. Upper Vaitarna began releasing excess water on July 5, followed by Middle Vaitarna which opened its gates on July 7. Modak Sagar began overflowing on July 9, Tansa started overflowing on July 23 and Bhatsa opened all five gates by 25 July.
Surge In Water Levels Compared To Last Year
Compared to the same date last year, when the water stock was at 11.64 lakh million litres, the current levels are significantly higher. With rainfall expected to continue, water availability for the city is likely to remain comfortable in the coming months.
