"Sporadic rainfall in Thane-Nashik a worrisome factor as five out of seven lakes that supply water to the city are located in this belt"
Tansa lake. File Pic
Despite heavy rainfall over the past week in the city, the water storage in lakes has risen from 8 per cent to just 25.80 per cent. Reason: sporadic rainfall in Thane and Nashik where a majority of the lakes are situated.
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Of the total seven lakes that supply water to the city, Bhatsa, Tansa, Upper Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna, Modak Sagar are located on Thane-Nashik belt while Tulsi and Vihar are in Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SNGP).
Last year, as on July 16, there was 49 per cent water stock in the lakes while in 2018 the water stock was 65 per cent. There was a delay in monsoon last year too, but despite this, most of the lakes both – within the city limits and in Thane-Nashik received twice the rainfall compared to this year till date. "Vihar and Tulsi - the lakes situated in the city received 125 mm and 90 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours till 6 am on Thursday. But other lakes which have a share of 98 per cent in daily supply received not more than 12 mm in the last 24 hours," said an official from the BMC.
Last year, Tulsi lake overflowed on July 12, followed by Tansa on July 25, Modak Sagar on July 26, Vihar on July 31, Middle Vaitarna on August 25 and Upper Vaitarna on August 31. As on date, Tulsi lake is 80 per cent full while Vihar is 50 per cent full, but comparatively these lakes are small in size than the other five.
City crosses July's average rainfall
With the continuous spell of heavy rain in the last few days, the city crossed its average rainfall for July. Colaba received 893.7 mm rain while Santacruz received 952.6 mm till July 16 against the average of 840.7 mm for July.
S'cruz rain in July (in mm)
- 2020: 952.6 (till July 16)
- 2019: 1,464.8
- 2018: 1,138.8
Total water in lakes
- 2020: 3,73,468 MLD
- 2019: 7,06,317 MLD
- 2018: 9,34,210 MLD
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