Mumbai's Water Stock To Last 100 Days, But Heat-Driven Evaporation Could Lead To Cuts By May: BMC Official
Mumbai’s water stock has dipped significantly over the past fortnight, raising concerns about the city’s water security in the run-up to the monsoon. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the cumulative water level in all seven lakes supplying water to the city dropped to 30.24 per cent on Tuesday, a steep fall from 37.31 per cent recorded on March 28.
Mumbai, an island city flanked by the sea on three sides, sources its water from seven lakes—Tulsi, Vihar, Bhatsa, Tansa, Upper Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna and Modak Sagar. While Tulsi and Vihar are located within the city, the remaining five are situated in the neighbouring districts of Thane, Palghar and Nashik. These lakes are replenished by monsoon rains in their catchment areas, and the water is transported via tunnels to BMC’s filtration plants before being distributed across the city.
Collectively, these lakes have a storage capacity of 14.4 lakh million litres. With the BMC supplying 3,850 million litres of water daily, a full stock is expected to last for 375 days. However, as per the latest BMC data, the current stock stands at just 4.37 lakh million litres, which—at the present rate of supply—is expected to last no more than 113 days, Indian Express (IE) reported.
Officials attributed the accelerated depletion to soaring temperatures. “Usually, every one percentage of the overall stock leads to three days of supply. However, in the last two weeks, the stock came down by seven percentage points, which indicates that water stock meant to last for 21 days got over in just 15 days. This is happening because of the heat, which is leading to faster evaporation, and the gap will widen when the temperature increases further by April-end or May,” said a civic official, as per IE's report.
Later Monsoon In Mumbai Amid Declining Water Levels Could Led To Cuts By May First Week
Typically, the monsoon arrives in Mumbai around June 15. However, in recent years, the onset has often been delayed, with consistent rainfall beginning only towards the end of June. Furthermore, heavy rainfall in the catchment areas—located in Palghar, Thane and Nashik districts—usually begins only by mid-July.
In light of the declining water levels, the Maharashtra government had, in late March, allowed the BMC to tap into a reserve stock of 1.81 lakh million litres. This is estimated to last for around 48 days if the regular supply quota is maintained. The stock may stretch for a few more weeks if water cuts are introduced, the report stated.
“Considering the current climatic pattern, the monsoon usually arrives in Mumbai by middle June and intense rainfall picks up by July. The catchment areas of these lakes are located in Thane, Nashik and Palghar districts, where good rainfall picks up post July. So keeping these factors in mind, we will need to have a backup stock for at least four months,” the official added, as quoted by IE.
Civic officials also warned that if the water stock continues to dwindle by the end of April, the city could face water cuts as early as the first week of May. “We are monitoring the water stock at present. If the extreme heat condition continues and the water level in the lakes dips below normal levels in the next two weeks, we may have to implement a water cut by the first week of May,” the official said.
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