Over the past decade, Mumbai has faced water cuts five times, including two year-long ones. It is bracing for water cut this year, too, with the stock down to 12 per cent. Two projects—Manori desalination plant and Gargai dam—that could have given the city 20 per cent more water are nowhere close to taking off even several years after being proposed. But, BMC officials are hoping the Manori plant will be ready in the next three years if all goes to plan. 

Even as the BMC is trying to dip into the state’s reserves to keep the city’s supply at 100 per cent, a permanent solution looks like a pipe dream. Two proposed projects—Manori desalination plant and Gargai dam—were to increase the city’s supply by 20 per cent.