In good news, Mumbai's water stock will last till July, says BMC

Tulsi lake currently has 3,478 million litres of water. File pic

Thje city is facing many challenges amid the Coronavirus lockdown, but the one thing in its favour is the water stock. The lakes that provide water to the city have enough water to fulfil the city's needs through the summer.

As of Monday, the lakes have 29 per cent of the water stock, which will last for almost another 80 days, that is, until July.

This means, there will be no water cut this summer. Last year, when the city was facing a water cut, the total water stock was 19 per cent on the same date.

The BMC had imposed a 10 per cent water cut from November 2018 till July 2019. During the last monsoon, the lakes received rain till early December and as such, the water stock is still

The seven lakes - Bhatsa, Tansa, Upper Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tulsi and Vihar - supply water to the city.

Their total water storage capacity is 14.47 lakhs MLD (million litres per day). As of Monday, there is 4.31 lakh MLD water in the lakes.

Last year, on the same date, the water stock was 2.88 lakh MLD.

The BMC supplies 3,800 MLD water to the city every day. Around 700 MLD water is being used by industries while the floating population - people coming from other cities - use around 50 MLD water.

"After the lockdown, the industrial water supply is obviously reduced but the city gets normal water supply. It means there is more water for residential areas," said Ashok Rathore, chief of the Hydraulic Engineering Department.

Due to the manpower crunch, the meter reading has not been taken and the exact use by industries and residences has not been measured.

As per the IMD forecast, the monsoon will be normal this year.

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Percentage of water stock currently available

Available water stock (in mn litres)

Upper Vaitarna: 2,802
Modak Sagar: 61,632
Tansa: 38,539
Middle Vaitarna: 89,953
Bhatsa: 224,881
Vihar: 10,133
Tulsi: 3,478
Total: 4,31,418

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