As the rains resumed in the city two weeks ago, the levels of seven lakes that supply water to Mumbai have registered a significant rise.
Two lakh million liters (ml) of water has accumulated in the lakes in the last 20 days. With this, now the city has water reserves for the next 300 days.
As of August 20, the water reserves in the seven lakes stood at 12.35 lakh ml, according to BMC data – 85.34 per cent of the total capacity of 14.47 lakh ml.
The water reserves in these lakes as on July 30 were 10.69 lakh ml. In the last two weeks, the intensity of rain has increased in the catchment areas, from where the rain water flows into the river or lake, officials said.
While Tulsi and Vihar lakes are located inside the city in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali, Bhatsa, Tansa, Madhya Vaitarna and Modak Sagar lakes are located in Thane district. Upper Vaitarna Dam is located in Nashik district.
Tulsi, Vihar, Modak Sagar and Tansa lakes were in spate after heavy rains in Mumbai in July. The Bhatasa and Vaitarna dams meet more than 60 per cent of the city’s total water requirement.
The city receives about 3,850 ml of water daily from these seven lakes.
According to BMC data, Bhatasa, Upper Vaitarna and Tansa lakes recorded 33 mm, 32 mm and 32 mm of rain respectively in 24 hours on August 20.
Similarly, 35 mm of rain was recorded in Madhya Vaitarna lake and 35 mm in Modak Sagar lake. The catchment area of Vihar and Tulsi recorded 23 mm and 27 mm of rainfall respectively.
Lake Powai, which supplies water to industries, was in spate on June 12. Last August, Mumbai faced water cuts as the lake’s catchment areas did not receive enough rainfall, depleting the water stock.
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