Mumbai has 83% water stock in dams, 3 of 7 lakes overflow

The water stock on Monday was 12,05,597 million litres, compared to 12,51,102 million litres on July 15 last year.

Finally, there’s some rain-related good news for the city: The seven lakes that provide water to Mumbai are 83% full. This means that they have water stock for the next 315 days. By the end of monsoon, the city requires water stock for 365 days to ensure a comfortable summer, without water cuts.

The city needs 14.47 lakh million litres of water at the end of the monsoon to ensure there are no water cuts. (HT Photo/Representational Image)

Mumbai gets its water from the Vihar, Tulsi, Bhatsa, Middle Vaitarna, Upper Vaitarna, Tansa and Modak Sagar lakes, which are in Thane and Nashik districts. Two of these – Tulsi and Vihar – are in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. All the seven lakes have received 13, 863 mmm of rainfall so far this monsoon.

In June, just at the start of the monsoon, the lakes were 14.87% full. Thanks to excellent rainfall in catchment areas, Tulsi, Modak Sagar and Vehar lakes overflowed earlier in July. Bhatsa Lake, which supplies 50% of the city’s water needs, is just 6.14 meters from overflowing.

The water stock on Monday was 12,05,597 million litres, compared to 12,51,102 million litres on July 15 last year.

The city needs 14.47 lakh million litres of water at the end of the monsoon to ensure there are no water cuts.

In 2016, the recorded water level one month into the monsoon was 9,58,426 million litres, the lowest in three years. The city had to suffer 20% water cuts in the following months.

Mumbai requires 4,200 million litres of water daily (MLD), of which the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) supplies 3,800 MLD.