No water cuts will happen in Mumbai for the next one year, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. According to the BMC, the water level in the lakes is 99% and therefore it has adequate stock of water for the next 372 days, the Hindustan Times reported.
Seven lakes supply water to Mumbai, these include Tulsi, Vihar, Tansa, Modak Sagar, Bhatsa, Upper Vaitarna, and Middle Vaitarna.
The BMC said that Tulsi, Vihar, Tansa, and Modak Sagar -- have already overflowed this monsoon. The stock of water is 100% in Tulsi, 99% in Vihar, 98% in Tansa, and 97% in Modak Sagar. Whereas Bhatsa Dam in Thane, which supplies 55% of the total water to Mumbai, reported 99.43% of water stock. In Upper Vaitarna, the water level stood at 99.79%, and Middle Vaitarna has 97.78% of water stock.
Every year, the BMC convenes a meeting after the withdrawal of the monsoon to take the stock of lakes and water storage. This year, the BMC will conduct the meeting in mid-October due to the delayed monsoon.
Ajay Rathore, chief engineer of BMC’s hydraulics department told the daily that there are chances of more rainfall as the monsoon is yet to officially withdraw. "But looking at the situation, it is clear that Mumbai will not have any water cuts this year," he added.
Mumbai has received over 3,000mm of rainfall this monsoon so far.
Between July 16 and 23, the lakes' catchment areas had received a maximum of their stock. On July 17, the seven lakes had 17% of water. But by July 22 the water-level crossed the 50% mark, followed by 60% on July 24 and 70% on July 28. On October 6, the water level stood at 99%.
Previous year in October, the water level in the seven lakes was at 98.60%, and in 2019 it was 98.92%.
The seven lakes are divided into the system--the Vaitarna system and the Bhatsa system. The Vaitarna system supplies water to the western suburbs and the island city while the Bhatsa system's water goes to the eastern suburbs. BMC supplies 3,850 million litres of water daily to Mumbai against the city’s demand for 4,200 million litres.
Last year, Mumbai experienced a20% water cut because of the low level of water storage in the lakes. In 2019, the city did not face any water cuts because of adequate rainfall and a higher percentage of water storage. Before that, BMC imposed 10%, 20%, and 25% water cuts in 2018, 2016, and 2014, respectively.
