Mumbai Water Update: Stock At City’s Seven Lakes At 35 Per Cent, Enough For 100 Days; No Immediate Cuts, Corporators Seek Survey

Mumbai, April 9: Despite soaring maximum temperatures in Mumbai, the seven lakes supplying water to the city currently hold 5.20 lakh million litres (ML) of water, which is about 35% of their total capacity of 14.47 lakh million litres (ML).

This stock is expected to be sufficient for the next 100 days. So, there are no immediate water cuts in the coming days. However, given the continuous rise in temperatures, corporators have demanded a scientific survey of all seven lakes to accurately assess their current water levels.

Comparison with previous year and evaporation concerns

As of April 9 last year, the water stock in the lakes stood at 32.48%, compared to a lower 26.98% recorded this year. While the current levels provide some relief relative to previous years, officials have raised concerns that increasing temperatures are accelerating evaporation, which could quickly deplete reserves.

Notably, water levels had fallen below 20% by the first week of May last year. However, the early onset of the monsoon brought timely relief, replenishing the catchment areas sooner than expected.

Officials flag risks amid rising temperatures

A civic official from the Hydraulic Engineering Department said, “Although the monsoon is expected to arrive on time this year, water cuts are unlikely. However, rising temperatures remain a concern, as they could accelerate evaporation and deplete water reserves more rapidly.”

Mumbai’s water supply depends on seven lakes—Tulsi and Vihar, located within the city, and Bhatsa, Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, and Tansa, situated 100–175 km away across Palghar, Thane, and Nashik districts. Water from these sources is transported through an extensive network of 650 km of transmission mains and nearly 6,000 km of service pipelines.

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Call for desilting and scientific assessment

In a notice of motion moved in the BMC’s civic house, Congress corporator Ayesha Vanu stated, “Significant silt accumulation in Mumbai’s water-supplying lakes is reducing their storage capacity, worsening summer water scarcity and straining the BMC’s supply system. Rapid urbanisation, deforestation, and unregulated waste disposal have further aggravated the problem. The BMC should undertake scientific surveys of all such lakes and carry out phased desilting under a time-bound programme.”

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