BMC to rebuild 140-year-old Malabar Hill reservoir in south Mumbai

Shirish Uchagaonkar, chief engineer of BMC’s water supply projects, said, “The plan is to reconstruct the reservoir in a period of five years at an approximate cost of ₹308 crore. There will be no water cut or shortage in the areas where water is supplied from Malabar Hill reservoir, during the work.”

In a bid to increase the storage capacity for smooth supply of water, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed to reconstruct the Malabar Hill reservoir, built in 1880, to supply drinking water to the Island city.

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BMC has planned the reconstruction in such a way that there will be no water cut in south Mumbai during the commencement of the work.

Shirish Uchagaonkar, chief engineer of BMC’s water supply projects, said, “The plan is to reconstruct the reservoir in a period of five years at an approximate cost of ₹308 crore. There will be no water cut or shortage in the areas where water is supplied from Malabar Hill reservoir, during the work.”

According to BMC officials, the decision to reconstruct the around 140-year-old reservoir was taken after a structural audit, done over two years ago, had indicated that the structure needs to be demolished and rebuilt.

The Malabar Hill reservoir supplies drinking water to some of the prime areas in the city, including Colaba, Fort, Churchgate, Cuffe Parade, Chowpatty, Malabar Hill, Peddar Road and Altamount Road. The reservoir is located on the hillock and has a filtration bed to supply potable water to the city. The structure was built in masonry arch roof and rubble masonry columns. In 1925, the capacity augmentation of the reservoir had started. Now BMC has proposed to reconstruct the reservoir with necessary improvements including construction of a new pumping station, installation of pumps and piping as well as construction of a new substation structure and its commissioning.

According to BMC officials, the current capacity of the reservoir is 146 million litres of water per day, of which around 80 million litres is usable. After the reconstruction of the reservoir, BMC plans to increase the storage to 200 million litres and make around 190 million litres usable.

“Currently, there are six compartments in the reservoir, which after the reconstruction will increase to seven for storage of around 200 million litres of drinking water. At a time, only one compartment will be demolished and reconstructed so that there won’t be any impact on the supply of drinking water in the area,” said Uchagaonkar.

Meanwhile, out of the seven lakes supplying water to Mumbai, Tansa and Vaitarna provide potable water to the Island city. According to BMC’s data, Mumbai currently has water stock for over 70 days as the level in the seven lakes is 19.36% as compared to 7.91% last year and 10.18% in 2019.