Mumbai: Tansa Lake in Thane district overflowed on Wednesday following heavy rainfall. Earlier, Tulsi Lake, the smallest of the seven lakes, began overflowing on July 20. Tansa Lake alone contributes 455 million litres of water to Mumbai's daily supply. Meanwhile, due to continuous downpour, the total water stock, which was only 5.91% on July 1, has surged to 58.58% by July 24. This current stock is projected to be adequate for the city's needs for the next seven months.
In May, the dwindling water stock compelled civic authorities to enforce water cuts in the city. Beginning June 5, a 10% water cut was implemented. The situation worsened as the stock in the seven lakes dropped to 5%. However, the scenario has since seen a dramatic turnaround following heavy rainfall in recent days.
"In the past five days alone, the total water stock across the seven lakes has surged by 2.48 lakh million litres. At approximately 4:16 pm on Wednesday, Tansa lake reached its maximum capacity, due to which three gates of dam were opened and 3,315 cusecs of water was released," said a civic official.
In the 24-hour period from Tuesday 6 am to Wednesday 6 am, significant rainfall was recorded at various lakes: Upper Vaitarna received 115 mm, Modak Sagar 87 mm, Tansa 65 mm, Middle Vaitarna 100 mm, Bhatsa 67 mm, Vehar 67 mm, and Tulsi 64 mm.
Currently, the total water stock across the seven lakes stands at 8.41 lakh million litres. It was 7.64 lakh million litres in 2023 and 12.76 lakh million litres in 2022 during this period. The city requires a total water stock of 14.47 lakh million litres by October 1st, which is adequate to meet its needs for the entire year.
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Total water stock in seven lakes on July 24.
Lakes.....current level ....overflow level (all figures in metres)
Upper Vaitarna..597.84.....603.51
Modak Sagar....160.45......163.15
Tansa...128.35......128.63
Middle Vaitarna....268.42.....285
Bhatsa...129.14......142.07
Vehar...79.77.....80.12
Tulsi...139.34.......139.17