Lakes that provide water to Mumbai record highest water levels in 5 years

After the city faced water crises in July and August, the continuous rainfall around catchment areas has more than made up for it. For the first time in the last five years, the water level in the seven lakes has reached 14.31 million litres on Wednesday, only a few million litres away from its full capacity of 14.5. The city now has stock for the next 387 days, i.e. till September 2015.

Vihar was the last lake to overflow on August 31, and the BMC is expecting the remaining two lakes, Upper Vaitarna and Bhatsa, to also reach full capacity before the end of monsoon season. File pic

Out of the seven lakes, five have already crossed its full storage level, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is expecting the remaining two lakes - Upper Vaitarna and Bhatsa - to also reach full capacity before the end of monsoon season. The newly formed Middle Vaitarna also reached its full water capacity, providing additional water to the residents of Mumbai.

With delayed monsoon in the beginning of the season, the BMC had implemented 20 per cent water cuts in the city. After monsoons finally arrived in the city, Tansa was the first lake to overflow, followed by Modak Sagar and Tulsi Lake.

‘Save water' campaign on hold
The hydraulic department of the BMC had planned to make a short film for social networking sites and send SMSs to around 1.2 lakh mobile phones, to make residents aware about saving water. However, with monsoon currently in full swing, the campaign has now been put on hold.

Officialspeak
Ramesh Bambale, chief hydraulic engineer of the BMC, said, "This is one of the highest stock of water we have had for some time now. The rainfall in August filled three lakes in the same month, and we hope the remaining lakes also fill up by the end of the season."