Mumbai’s lakes currently hold 22 per cent water

The city gets its water supply from seven lakes. File pic

The current water stock in the city is less than the water stock we had on the same day last year, creating concerns about water scarcity, particularly if the monsoon is
delayed again.

As of May 7, the lake levels in Mumbai were down to 22 percent, as compared to 26 per cent last year. Though the current stock will last till the end of June end, the state government has already informed all the municipal corporations to use water judiciously, as there are chances of delayed arrival of rains. Mumbai already asked for a reserve stock of water, in case of a shortage in June.

Mumbai currently gets its water supply from seven lakes, with an overall capacity of 14.47 lakh million litres of water. Currently, the lakes hold 3.27 lakh million litres of water, which is 22.6 per cent. The same quantity stood at 3.78 lakh million litres stock as of May 7 last year.

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"The current stock is enough for the city till June end but we have to consider the evaporation rate as well. Besides, in the last few years, the onset of monsoon has been delayed. Hence, appropriate decisions about supply will be taken from time to time," said an official with the Hydraulic Engineering Department.

For the last nine monsoons, the city has faced five water cuts, with two of them being a year long. In 2015, 2020 and 2022, the city had to go through water cuts during the rainy season either due to the delay of the monsoon or a long break between two spells of rain. Last year, the BMC had imposed a 10 per cent water cut from June 28 to July 12, as the water stock was down to 9 per cent.

3.27L
Mumbai's current water stock in million litres