Civic officials hope to avert the 2009 situation when they had to impose water cuts starting with 15% and moving on to 30% during the monsoon itself.
It’s been a week since the city started receiving heavy rains, throwing traffic off gear and leading to water logging incidents at several places across the city. However, the lakes which supply drinking water to Mumbai have yet to fill up.
Civic officials hope to avert the 2009 situation when they had to impose water cuts starting with 15% and moving on to 30% during the monsoon itself. A similar situation was also faced by the city’s residents in 1992. “The city is receiving satisfactory rainfall. There have been reports of places submerged in water, especially low-lying areas. But very less water has been reported to have collected at the catchments. The monsoon has just arrived and it will take a while before the lakes fill up and we can measure the percentage. We are not worried at this juncture,” said Ramesh Babale, chief, hydraulic department, BMC.
For now, the city has been receiving considerable rain on over the past several days. The weather department has attributed it to the low pressure area (LPA) over the Arabian Sea. “On Sunday, 17mm of rainfall was measured at Modak Sagar, 34mm at Tansa, 139mm at Vihar, 173mm at Tulsi, 2mm at Upper Vaitarna and 26mm at Tansa Bhatsa. Colaba received a maximum of 106mm of rainfall, while Santa Cruz received 184mm. If things continue this way, it will be a cause of concern. Even, the present lake levels will start declining, resulting in water cuts this monsoon,” said a senior civic official.
According to Congress corporator Vinod Shekhar, the BMC should conduct experiments such as cloud seeding to attract maximum rainfall in catchment areas. “This will ensure that water levels at the lakes don’t drop, subsequently, no water cuts. Otherwise, things will turn from bad to worse, putting the city in a dangerous situation. The administration needs to start doing experiments to ensure adequate rain,” said Shekhar. “China has the largest cloud seeding system in the world. They do not wait until the rains stop. So why we should we?” he added.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}