With still a month in the arrival of the Monsoon over Mumbai, the water stock in all seven lakes supplying the city has dipped below 20 per cent. Seven lakes – Tansa, Bhatsa, Modak Sagar, Tulsi, Vihar, Upper Vaitarna and Middle Vaitarna– fulfil Mumbai’s daily water supply.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the monsoon is expected to hit Mumbai tentatively on June 11.
As per the data available till May 15, the total water stocks of the seven lakes stand at 2.8 lakh million litres or 19.5 per cent of their total capacity, according to a report by Times of India.
On the same date last year, water stocks stood at 3.3 lakh million litres or 23 per cent of the total capacity.
Mumbai reportedly has a daily requirement of 4,200 million litres per day (MLD) of water.
Last year, when the lake levels dipped below 20 per cent in June, the civic body had announced a 15 per cent water cut in Mumbai.
However, BMC seems unlikely to go the same route this year. The civic body said it is closely monitoring the situation and have asked permission from the Maharashtra government to use reserve water stock in case of a delayed Monsoon.
“We have already written to the state government and requested permission to use the reserve water stock of Upper Vaitarna and Bhatsa lakes in case of delayed monsoon. We are hoping that they will positively consider the same,” said Additional municipal commissioner P Velrasu, in charge of the civic hydraulic department, according to the TOI report.
As per BMC’s latest data, currently, the water stock in Tulsi Lake is at 36 per cent, followed by 35 per cent in Vihar, 31 per cent in Tansa and 29 per cent in Modak Sagar. 18 per cent in Bhatsa, 13 per cent in Middle Vaitarna and 12 per cent in Upper Vaitarna.
Most of these seven lakes are located on the outskirts of Mumbai and Thane.
Comments
0 comment