Sept 30 decides if your 15% water cut continues

The rains have finally arrived but they are not going to bring you much respite from water cuts.

The rains have finally arrived but they are not going to bring you much respite from water cuts.

Though the BMC had reduced the water cut from 30 per cent to 15 per cent on Thursday, it has no plans to withdraw it. The cut imposed on swimming pools and construction sites will also continue.
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Santosh Korlekar, chief hydraulic engineer, BMC, said, "We are out of the crisis. We have water for the next 150 days. However, we had experienced water shortage at the end of this summer and don't want to take risks again."

WATER WAY: An overflowing Modak Sagar

According to officials from the hydraulic department, in the past, the six lakes in question Modak Sagar, Tansa, Vihar, Tulsi, Upper Vaitarna and Bhatsa have overflowed early in the season, but could not sustain water levels due to poor rainfall in the end of September. This had forced BMC to impose water cuts in summer.
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"Water levels are considered comfortable enough to last till the next monsoon in June only if all lakes overflow on September 30.

Till then, every drop has to be cautiously used," said an official. While Modak Sagar has overflowed, the other reservoirs haven't. For example, Bhatsa's capacity is 142.07 msl, but it is currently only 122.20 msl.
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"Though rainfall is picking up, we are praying that lakes overflow on September 30 as well," said Korlekar.

Help is on the Way

BMC has allotted each ward Rs 50 lakh to dig borewells. "The proposal was passed in the standing committee yesterday," said Santosh Korlekar, chief hydraulic engineer.

"Borewell water can be put to non-potable use." On an average, the city needs 4350 million litres daily. The borewells are expected to supply 400 million litres daily.