Mumbai won’t get respite from water cuts

Bhatsa, which caters to more than 50% of the city’s water needs, has 68,000 million litres, against last year’s more than 1 lakh million litres

The heavy rain over the past week may not give you respite from water cuts. Reason: there has been no significant rise in the water level in catchment areas.

The Powai lake overflows on Sunday. (Prashant Waydande)

Mumbai has been facing a 20% water cut since August 2015. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the quantity of water in all seven lakes that meet the city’s water needs is 1.5 lakh million litres, 1.7 lakh million litres less than what was recorded the same time last year.

Bhatsa, which caters to more than 50% of the city’s water needs, has 68,000 million litres, against last year’s more than 1 lakh million litres.

A senior civic official from the hydraulic department said, “The catchment levels are showing improvement only over the past 2-3 days. We have not decided on the water cuts. It will continue as we start planning for the next year.”

To avoid water cuts in 2017, the civic body needs 14 lakh million litres on October 1, 2016.

Officials said the rainfall in catchment areas has not been satisfactory. Between 8am on Saturday and 8am on Sunday, the island city received 71mm rainfall, while the western suburbs received 103mm rainfall.