Water level in 7 lakes 99%; no water cuts in Mumbai this year, says BMC

Mumbai will not have any water cuts for the next one year as the water level in the seven lakes is 99%, as of Wednesday morning. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has adequate water stock for the next 372 days.

Mumbai will not have any water cuts for the next one year as the water level in the seven lakes is 99%, as of Wednesday morning. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has adequate water stock for the next 372 days.

Of the seven lakes supplying drinking water to the city, four— Tulsi, Vihar, Tansa and Modak Sagar — have already overflowed once this monsoon. (HT PHOTO)

Every year, the BMC undertakes a review meeting on October 1 after withdrawal of monsoon in the last week of September, however, since monsoon withdrawal is delayed for the past two years the review meeting will happen in mid-October, according to BMC officials.

However, the BMC has maintained that looking at the current situation it is clear that there will not be any water cuts. Ajay Rathore, chief engineer of BMC’s hydraulics department said, “The monsoon is yet to officially withdraw and there are chances of more rainfall, due to which we have not taken an annual meeting yet. But looking at the situation, it is clear that Mumbai will not have any water cuts this year.”

Of the seven lakes supplying drinking water to the city, four— Tulsi, Vihar, Tansa and Modak Sagar — have already overflowed once this monsoon. According to BMC’s data, the livestock of water is 100% in Tulsi, 99% Vihar, 98% in Tansa and 97% in Modak Sagar. The seven lakes that supply water to the city are located in Mumbai as well as neighbouring Thane and Palghar districts. The city has received over 3,000mm of rainfall this monsoon and nearby cities too have reported good rainfall.

In the current year, between July 16 and 23, the catchment areas of the lakes received a maximum of their stock. On July 17, the overall water level in seven lakes was 17% and the BMC was considering announcing a water cut. However, by July 22, the water level crossed the 50% mark, followed by 60% on July 24 and 70% on July 28. On October 06, the water level was 99.00% in the seven lakes. Last year, on October 06, the water level was 98.60%, and it was 98.92% in 2019.

Bhatsa dam in Thane, which supplies 55% of the total annual water requirement of the city, has 99.43 water stock, which was 999.92% last year at this time. In the case of Upper Vaitarna, the water level is 99.79% as of Monday. Last year at this time, the level stood at 99.58%. Middle Vaitarna has 97.78% of water stock as opposed to 97.47% last year at this time.

The seven lakes are bifurcated into two systems — the Vaitarna system which supplies to the western suburbs and the island city, and Bhatsa system which supplies to the eastern suburbs. The civic body supplies 3,850 million litres of water daily against the city’s demand for 4,200 million litres.

The city had experienced a 20% water cut last year in August 2020, amid the Covid outbreak owing to the low level of water storage in the lakes. BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal had also prepared a backup plan to bring water to Mumbai from Bhandardara dam in Ahmednagar if required. Before 2020, no water cut was imposed in 2019, owing to good rainfall in catchment areas. The BMC had imposed a 10% water cut in 2018, a 20% cut in 2016 and a 25% cut in 2014.