Mumbai : The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) decided 15 per cent cut in commercial water supply from Wednesday while domestic water supply would not be affected till next monsoon.
This decision will hit the star hotels, commercial establishments, clubs, racecourse, factories and swimming pools. The plan is to keep the supply unaffected till next July as the level of water in five lakes that supply water to the city is depleting drastically.
According to the BMC, there is 9,42,372 million litres of water in these lakes, capacity of all the five lakes is 14,47,363 million litres. The available water stock would not suffice the city till next July.
The BMC standing committee is going to announce the decision tomorrow in its meeting. “The available water stock is not enough. We have to manage the available water till next monsoon. After imposing 15 per cent water cut we can save 2,47,500 million litre water. There were no rains in catchment of the dams last month. There is only 171 days of water stock in Bhatsa dam and 276 days stock in Vaitarana dam,” said standing committee chairman Yashodhar Phanse.
“In a second phase, domestic water supply will be cut by 10 per cent. Overall, water stock will suffice the city only for eight months so there is a need to cut the supply now,” chief hydraulic engineer Ashok Tawadia informed. “We hope that there will be sufficient rainfall during September. Further decision will be taken accordingly,” he said.
