Mumbai's water levels down to less than 10 per cent of total stock

Vaitarna is one of the reservoirs from which reserve stock is taken. File pic

With the monsoon delayed, the water stock for the city has dipped to 1,23,632 million litres in the seven reservoirs that supply it. It is less than 10% of the total reservoir holding capacity, 14.47 lakh million litres. The total stock of water available last year on June 7 was 2,56,900 million litres. But as the reserve stock taken from the state government-owned reservoir (upper Vaitarna) is helping keep the city afloat, the civic administration is not likely to implement any further water cuts.

Last year, the city had enough water - 2,56,100 million litres - to last till July 31 without the need for the reserve stock. But, this time, levels have been on the dip, as the city is currently being supplied about 3,500 million litres of water every day (MLD) after implementing a 10% water cut. The city is usually supplied 3,800 MLD.

Also read: Mumbai lakes have the lowest water levels in the last 3 years

Reserves being used
Alarmingly, the reserve stock from the Upper Vaitarna reservoir is dipping as it is being used for almost a month. The water stock in this reservoir has now dipped to about 20,000 million litres. But Bhatsa's (government-owned reservoir) reserve stock of 1 lakh million litres is yet to be touched, and hence the reserve stock with the city is 1,20,000 million litres, in addition to the stock available in the seven reservoirs.

While the Vaitarna system that includes Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar and Middle Vaitarna, mainly supplies water to the western suburbs and parts of the island city, the Bhatsa system supplies to the eastern suburbs and parts of the island city.

Also read: Water supply: Down to 13 percent, Mumbai is running on reserve

BMC speak
A senior civic official said, "Depending on the situation, the decision over the reserve stock is taken. But the delay in monsoon has led to us relying highly on reserve stock and the first week of June remained dry with no predictions for next 48 hours, adding to our worries." However, Ashok Tawadia, chief engineer of the Hydraulics Department, said, "There is no panic about the water situation as we are yet to use our Bhatsa reserve stock."

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