Residents across some Mumbai suburban areas are likely to face water shortage as the state has announced supply cuts citing lower water stock in dams compared to last year.
Residents across some Mumbai suburban areas are likely to face water shortage as the state has announced supply cuts citing lower water stock in dams compared to last year.
Thane resident will have to face water cut once a week as the irrigation department has imposed 7 percent water cut in Thane from March 19 to manage available water till mid-July, reported Hindustan Times.
"The water stock in Barvi dam is 7 percent less than last year. We will have to manage the available stock till July 15. So we decided to impose 7 percent water cut from March 19," an official from irrigation department told the paper.
Thane residents have been facing water cut once a fortnight since January despite above average rainfall in 2017.
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In 2017, Barvi dam was 99 percent full by July-end. The dam water flows in the Ulhas River, supplying water to Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli, Ulhasnagar, Mira-Bhayander, Bhiwandi and Navi Mumbai.
The official added that the department will hold a meeting every month to analyse the available water stock and review water cuts.
The Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has also announced a supply cut because of which water will be available on alternate days starting from Friday.
Dehrang dam, which supplies water to Panvel that has 1 lakh population, has a water storage capacity of 2.5 million cubic metre (mcm) and 3.57 mcm with the flap gates closed.
Panvel requires around 27 mld of water per day. While Dehrang supplies 12 mld, the rest is supplied by Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
The supply from MJP and MIDC, however, has reduced due to technical issues which has forced the department to draw additional water from Dehrang dam.
The water cuts are to prevent worse situations as current water stock may last only till April, Sandhya Bawankule, deputy municipal commissioner, PCMC, told the paper.
"We had actually planned the water cut from February 15, as is done every year. However, water supply committee chairman, Nilesh Baviskar, objected to it, saying efforts will be made to source water from other places like the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC)," Bawankule told the paper.
These water cuts will be removed once water supply from other places such the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) come in.
"We have asked for 25mld water from NMMC. As of now, NMMC commissioner said it will not be possible to supply this volume. We are awaiting their response. If we get the requisite water from NMMC, the water cut will be withdrawn," Bawankule added.