Mumbai Lakes Water Level Slips To 32.85% Capacity; Evaporation Rates Higher Than Last Year

The rising summer heat is slowly affecting the city's drinking water supply. Civic officials have said that the evaporation of lake water is slightly higher this year compared to the past two years, as per a mid-day report. Though the difference is minor for now, a former BMC officer has warned that it could become a bigger issue by May.

In just six days, the water stock in the city's lakes has fallen by 2.21 per cent. This drop was 2.19 per cent in the same period last year, and 2.1 per cent in 2023. Overall, the current water stock is 0.11 per cent lower than in 2023, and 0.02 per cent lower than in 2024.

Officials from the BMC's hydraulic department said that this year's strong sun is likely to cause more evaporation. "The chances of lake water evaporating are higher this year compared to last year," they said, "but the difference is still very minor."

Hydraulic Engineer Purushotam Malwade added, "We have already requested the state government to release water from its reserved stock. We have planned the supply so it will last till the end of July."

To manage the situation, the BMC has asked for 68,000 million litres of water from the Upper Vaitarna dam and 1.13 lakh million litres from the Bhatsa dam. These two are owned by the state. Apart from them, the city also gets water from civic-owned lakes like Tulsi, Vihar, Tansa, Modak Sagar, and Middle Vaitarna.

As of Tuesday, April 8, the city's total water stock is 4,75,494 million litres, which is 32.85 per cent of the full storage capacity. Last year on the same date, the stock was 3,96,327 million litres (27.38 per cent), and in 2023, it was 4,86,563 million litres (33.62 per cent). The total storage capacity of all the lakes is 14,47,363 million litres.

Earlier this month, on April 2, the stock was 5,07,445 million litres (35.06 per cent). On the same date in 2024, it was 4,27,981 million litres (29.57 per cent), and in 2023, it was 5,16,945 million litres (35.72 per cent).