Water crisis? Mumbai's stock lowest in three years

Representation Pic

Even as the temperature continues to rise Mumbai, the water stock in seven reservoirs that supply water to the city has been dropping steadily. With the availability of 3,28,049 million litres water as of Tuesday, the stock is lowest in the past three years. The total capacity of the reservoirs is 14.48 lakh million litres, which is required.

However, the officials at the BMC's Hydraulic Engineer Department claim there is sufficient water till the monsoon arrives. The water stock dropped drastically this year in comparison to the past two years. On April 16, 2017, all the reservoirs had about 5,21,190 million litres of water. The year 2018 saw a slight decline at 5,11,619 million litres.

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Civic officials said the drop in the water level occurred due to the lack of rainfall in September last year. "There was heavy rainfall in July and August which filled up the reservoirs and there was some overflow as well. However, since there was no rainfall in September, we used up a part of the water stock which led to the shortage," said the official.

However, he insisted that even with the declining water level, there is sufficient stock to last till June when rains begin. But, at the same time, he advised people to exercise some caution while using water. "Based on the past 10 years' trend, June usually receives around 1 lakh litre of water and that will take care of the shortage. The MET has prediction good rainfall and we are confident that we won't have to increase the water cut in the city," said the official.

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