Mumbai: The ongoing wet spell has led to the single-biggest jump in water stocks this monsoon in the seven lakes that supply drinking water to Mumbai.As of 6 am on Tuesday, July 7, the total water stocks stood at 4.2 lakh million litres, or 28.9% of the lakes’ total live storage capacity. Just 24 hours earlier, the reserves were at 2.4 lakh million litres, or 17% of the total capacity.Between July 4 and 7, the cumulative water stock in the lakes rose nearly 20%. On July 1, the reservoirs were just 9.4% full. Within a week, the storage climbed to 28.9%, owing to heavy rainfall across the lakes’ catchment areas.Further on, data shows that between July 6 and 7, the rainfall recorded in all the seven lakes was in triple digits. For instance, Upper Vaitarna recorded 212 mm of rainfall, and Modak Sagar, Tansa and Middle Vaitarna 345 mm, 322 mm and 235 mm, respectively. Bhatsa Lake, from where Mumbai gets more than 50% of its daily water supply, recorded 172 mm of rain, while Vihar and Tulsi recorded 151 mm and 160 mm. While the water stocks in the lakes as on July 7 were at 28.9%, on the same date last year, these stood at 9.8 lakh million litres, or 67.9%, and in 2024 at 2.10 lakh million litres, or 14.5%.When asked whether the civic administration planned to roll back the 10% water cut currently imposed across the city, as well as other restrictions such as the suspension of water supply to construction sites and swimming pools and the 20% reduction in supply to industrial and commercial establishments, municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide said there was no such immediate proposal.“We need the seven lakes to reach 100% storage by Sept 30 to ensure there is sufficient water for the city until the next monsoon. We will continue to wait and watch the water situation,” said the civic chief. Bhide added that every 1% of water stock is sufficient to meet the city’s demand for about three days, which means the current storage is enough to sustain Mumbai for roughly 87 days.
