Overflowing Vihar lake brings cheer to city

In a major relief for citizens, Vihar lake – which supplies 90 million litres of water (MLD) to Mumbai every day – overflowed on Monday. Three more lakes – Modak Sagar, Tansa and Upper Vaitarna – are barely a few meters away from the full supply levels.

Earlier on July 19, the Tulsi lake had started overflowing, which prompted the civic administration to withdraw the water cut.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) hydraulic Engineer Ashok Tavadia said the water situation seemed very positive this year. "While two lakes – Tulsi and Vihar – have started overflowing, Modak Sagar and Tansa lake have received very good rainfall. The administration is happy with the rising water levels. The expanse of Upper Vaitarna, however, is very huge, and even though the full supply level is just a few meters away, it will take some time," said Tavadia.

As much as 72 per cent of water stock has already been collected – a stock for 227 days.

While the lake levels were reasonably low last year, the civic administration had decided to impose a 20% water cut round the year. With the help of this bitter pill, the city managed to sail through the year until monsoon.