Mumbai rains: City's water reserves hit plateau as monsoon peak month ends

In the past fortnight Mumbairsquos drinking water stock from its seven lakes has remained stagnant at 892 per cent even as July mdash the wettest month of the cityrsquos fourmonthlong southwest monsoon mdash has endedAs of Tuesday morning the seven lakes that supply water to the city collectively held 1291030 million litres according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC The civic body supplies between 3950 and 4100 million litres of water to the city each dayAt this rate the present stock could last for 314 days However a senior official from BMCrsquos hydraulics department cautioned that this figure does not take into account losses during transportation due to leakages or evaporation from lake surfacesldquoWith around two more months of the monsoon season still remaining we are not in an alarming situation that could lead to a shortage for the rest of the monsoon calendar until June 2026rdquo the official said On the same date in 2024 lake levels stood at 9255 per cent while in 2023 they were at 8233 per centIdeas mooted for futureThe BMC first proposed 4ndash5 years ago to use water from the cityrsquos seven Waste Water Treatment Facilities Worli Dharavi Bandra Versova Ghatkopar Bhandup and Malad for drinking purposes after advanced treatment The plan involved blending this treated water with that from the Bhandup water treatment plant ldquoWhile this idea has been debated we need to be sensitive to the thought process of Mumbaikarsrdquo a senior civic official said ldquoAre we as a city ready to use water that has gone through advanced treatment and made potablerdquoFile PicSatej ShindeNo feasibility report has been submitted though the proposal has been discussed by administrators and politicians for the past 3ndash4 years Currently the BMC is implementing a megaproject to provide tertiary treatment at all seven sewage plants with the treated water to be released into the sea to improve Mumbairsquos coastline According to the 2011 Census 42 per cent of Mumbairsquos population lives in slumsLongterm plans to augment supplyTo reduce Mumbairsquos dependence on the seven lakes and boost drinking water sources the BMC has initiated three major infrastructure projects in the past decadeGargai Dam site File picEeshanpriya MSGargai DamLocation Wada Tehsil Palghar District 110 km from MumbaiStatus State government clearances in place central government clearance from the Wildlife Board awaited Of the 658 hectares required for compensatory afforestation 380 hectares have been identified near Tadoba National Park in Chandrapur and WashimTimeline 3ndash4 yearsCapacity 440 MLDPinjal DamLocation Khidse Village Jawhar Taluka Palghar DistrictStatus State inprinciple approval granted in 2013 feasibility study complete preliminary engineering work underwayTimeline 10 yearsCapacity 865 MLDManori Desalination PlantStatus Tender process ongoingTimeline 4 yearsCapacity 200 MLD expandable to 400 MLDAlternate water ideas on the tableA senior BMC official told midday in July that while the current Vaitarna and Bhatsa river systems have historically met the cityrsquos needs contingency plans are essentialAnother senior hydraulics official said the civic body is pursuing a threepronged strategy1 Building new dams to expand supply2 Setting up the desalination plant3 Exploring the integration of water from advanced wastewater treatment facilities at the cityrsquos seven sewage treatment plants into the Bhandup complexrsquos potable water supplyIMD forecastThe India Meteorological Department has predicted light to moderate rainfall for Mumbai Thane and Nashik in the coming days A yellow alert has been issued for Mumbai between August 13 and 16 and for Thane and Nashik districts between August 12 and 16 All seven lakes that supply water to Mumbai are located in these three districtsProjected water requirementExpert Committee Report December 2018 ndash ldquoTowards equitable and 24x7 water supply for Greater Mumbairdquo2031 5325 MLD 2987 per cent over present2041 6424 MLD 5668 per cent over presentPresent available supply 4128 MLDVision By 2030 achieve universal and equitable access to safe affordable drinking waterBMCrsquos current water supply normsResidential buildings135 litres per personcapita per day LPCDSlum areas45 LPCDCentral government norms allow up to 20 per cent of daily supply as nonrevenue waterIn Mumbai nonrevenue water is 34 per cent mainly due togtgt Nonmetered connectionsgtgt Leakages in the distribution networkgtgt Additional losses occur through evaporation from the lakesLakes filling up earlyThis year Mumbairsquos lakes filled up rapidly in the early monsoon and throughout July Two lakes have already overflowedModak SagarOn July 9 becoming the first to overflow this seasonTansa LakeOn July 23 Day Tasna overflowed39504100 million litresQuantity of water BMC supplies to city each day1291030 million litresTotal amount of water available in seven city lakes