No further water cuts in Mumbai, govt allows use of Bhatsa dam reserve stock

Mumbaiites will be spared further water cuts as the state government has given permission to the civic body to use 50% of the reserve water stock of Bhatsa dam.

Citizens will be spared further water cuts as the state government has given permission to the civic body to use 50% of the reserve water stock of Bhatsa dam.

The government had earlier written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that 40% less water will have to be supplied from the state-managed dam owing to poor rainfall this year. However, after the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis stayed the letter and ordered a meeting, this decision was made.

The city has been reeling under 20% water cuts since August 27 and so the latest move by the state government has helped the civic body manage the current water supply of 3,250 million litres per day, said a civic official, who did not wish to be named.

This decision was made in the coordination meeting between the government and the BMC. In the meeting, the civic officials presented the figures of current situation of all five dams owned by the civic body and water stock available. This is when the state government gave permission to use the reserve stock.

A civic official, on request of anonymity, said, “The dam has three levels. The first is the stock that is used to fulfil the daily water requirement. The next is the reserve or carry over stock, while the third is the dead stock. The reserve stock is used only when the live storage runs low. Since Bhatsa is owned by the government, we needed their permission to use the reserve stock.”

The official added that this will only help meet the water requirements of the city till next July without additional water cuts. “About 10 lakh million liters of water is available at present, including the reserve stock from the dams of the city,” the official said. BMC sources said around 2,120 million litres of water per day that is supplied by the civic body without imposing water cuts comes from Bhatsa alone.

Sanjay Mukherjee, additional municipal commissioner, said, “We have been allowed to use 50% of the reserve water stock from the Bhatsa dam to help meet the daily requirement of 3,250 mld that is supplied after imposing the 20%water cut.”