Enough water until June 30: BMC

Stock is sufficient for now, say civic officials; reserved stock will have to be used in case of delayed monsoon

Civic officials said the city has sufficient water stock that can last until June 30.

Even though the city is facing a 20% water cut, the current water stock stands from the seven lakes, excluding the reserves, stands at 2,10,668 million litres (15%), said officials from the BMC.

While the current stock can last for almost a month, it could suffice till the end of July if the reserves are included, said civic officials.

According to civic officials, as the reserve stock — water which is used during a crisis — is yet to be used, it means the city is not facing a crisis as of now.

The water distribution plan of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may still be affected, with permissions from the irrigation department of the state government for using the reserve stock of Upper Vaitarna, the state government-owned lake, pending.

“While this will not have an immediate effect on the water supply, if the irrigation department doesn’t allow us to use the reserve stock by the first week of July, it is likely to affect the water supply especially in case of a delayed monsoon. The reserve stock of Upper Vaitarna had also been considered for supplying water until July 31”, said a civic official said.

“There will be no additional water cuts. We are supplying water according to plan and we are anticipating a good monsoon. After we imposed water cuts last year, the situation has been under control and we did not have to touch the reserve stock of the reservoirs so far,” said a civic official.