Officials say increased rate of evaporation, decreased water pressure due to low lake levels being witnessed; Deputy Municipal Commissioner Yatin Dalvi confirmed that the state government had agreed to the civic body’s request
The Bhatsa reservoir, which can store 7,17,037 million litres of water. Pic/By Arrangement
The state government has tentatively agreed to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) request that 1.79 lakh million litres of water from its reserve stock be allocated for the city. The civic body routinely makes such requests in March. Currently, the water stock in all seven lakes is 4,37,727 million litres or 30.24 per cent of the total stock.
Civic officials said the existing stock should be able to fulfil Mumbai’s water requirements until July. “But just to be safe, we have requested the state government’s irrigation department for reserve stock,” an official said.
Deputy Municipal Commissioner Yatin Dalvi confirmed that the state government had agreed to the civic body’s request. A BMC source stated that the rate of evaporation increases during the summer and due to low lake levels, water pressure decreases. “To remedy this, the BMC demanded additional water stock from the state-owned Upper Vaitarna and Bhatsa reservoirs.
“If the monsoon season is delayed, we can use reserve water stock from the Upper Vaitarna and Bhatsa,” an official added. Last month, the BMC asked for 68,000 million litres from the Upper Vaitarna and 1.13 lakh million litres from the Bhatsa.
In March 2024, the BMC demanded 1.31 lakh million litres of water from the Bhatsa reservoir and 91,130 million litres from the Vaitarna. At the time, the total amount of water in all lakes was 4.46 lakh million litres or 33 per cent of the total stock. The civic body used only 48,420 million litres from the Vaitarna. Last year, water stock had dropped to five per cent by June, necessitating the implementation of a five to 10 per cent water cut.
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