Mumbai’s water stock will last only another 56 days, but no cuts yet

The city requires 4,200 million litres of water daily (MLD), of which the BMC supplies 3,800 MLD.

The seven lakes that provide water to Mumbai are 14.87% full, which means they have water only for 56 days. However, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) does not plan to announce water cuts as yet. Mumbai gets water from Vihar, Tulsi, Bhatsa, Middle Vaitarna, Upper Vaitarna, Tansa and Modak Sagar.

The useful water content at Tansa lake is 19,779 million litres as of June 18, 2018. (HT File)

The city requires 4,200 million litres of water daily (MLD), of which the BMC supplies 3,800 MLD. The water stock on Monday was 2,15,157 million litres, compared to 2,70,828 million litres on June 18 last year. The city needs 14.47 lakh million litres of water at the end of the monsoon every year, to ensure there are no water cuts.

“There is no plan to impose water cuts. We will take stock of the situation in the next couple of days. The rainfall prediction for the next two-three days is positive. We hope it will improve the water stock. On an average, all seven lakes received 40mm of rain on Sunday,” said a civic official from the hydraulic department, on condition of anonymity.

Last year, the monsoon exceeded the expectations, with the city receiving 2,943mm of rain, 119% of its annual average. The water level at the lakes in June 2016 was 1,05,531 million litres owing to which the city had to suffer 20% water cuts.