Fourth lake nears the brim, Mumbai has 70% water stock

MUMBAI: Heavy rainfall in catchment area lakes supplying water to Mumbai ensured that the quantum in them went up significantly.

The water stock on Saturday crossed 10 lakh million litres, or 69.62% of the required stock. While three lakes supplying water to Mumbai have overflowed so far, Vihar is less than a metre away from the 100% mark.
There was over 100mm rain in almost all lakes, with Bhatsa, the biggest lake supplying water to the city, receiving 148mm in the 24 hours between July 26 and 27. Other catchment areas also recorded good rain, with Upper Vaitarna recording 160mm, while Vihar, which is in Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), got 180mm.
Over the last week, two catchment area lakes supplying water to Mumbai-Modak Sagar and Tansa-have overflown. Tulsi was the first to overflow on the evening of July 12. But despite the significant rise, the stock in the seven lakes is less than last year. On July 27, 21018, the stock was at 12.03 lakh million litres (69.62% of stock).
BMC officials said that the significant rise in water stocks was good news, as just a month ago, the stock had dropped to below 5% level. On June 29, the water stock was 76,833 million litres (5.31% of stock required). "We are closely monitoring the water levels and are hopeful that by September-end, we will have adequate stock for the entire year," said an official.
On July 19, the BMC withdrew a 10% water cut that was in place since last November. The stock in the seven lakes has to be 14.47 lakh million litres on October 1, or by the end of the rains, for the city to go without a water cut for the rest of the year.