Less than 7% water stock left in reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai
Mumbai is staring at a severe water crisis as the combined live storage in its seven supply reservoirs has dropped to less than 7%, significantly
Mumbai is staring at a severe water crisis as the combined live storage in its seven supply reservoirs has dropped to less than 7%, significantly lower than last year, due to delayed monsoon and insufficient rainfall so far this year. In the corresponding period last year, the water stock in these seven dams was 39.5%. As per the data from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's Hydraulic Engineer's Department, the seven reservoirs together held 1,00,279 million litres of water, or 6.93% of their total live storage capacity, at 6 a.m. on Monday (June 29, 2026), compared with 5,71,670 million litres (39.5%) on the corresponding day last year. Seven reservoirs — Bhatsa, Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa, Middle Vaitarna, Tulsi, and Vihar — make up the entire seven-lake system that supplies drinking water to the financial capital of the country and its metropolitan areas.
They have a combined useful storage capacity of 14.47 lakh million litres and supply around 4,000 million litres of potable water daily to Mumbai. Four major reservoirs — Upper Vaitarna, Modak Sagar, Tansa and Middle Vaitarna — together contained 46,192 million litres of water, accounting for 6.65% of their combined live storage capacity, as per the data. Among these, Vihar had the highest storage at 45.13% of its live capacity, followed by Tulsi (24.26%) and Modak Sagar (18.47%), according to the data. Upper Vaitarna continued to remain below its Lower Drawdown Level (LDL), with its useful live storage recorded as zero. However, 11,974 million litres of water below the LDL was being utilised, it said. During the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m., Tulsi received 179 mm of rainfall, Vihar 112 mm and Modak Sagar 38 mm, while the Bhandup Complex recorded 191 mm of rainfall.
On June 17, the water stock in the seven reservoirs supplying drinking water to Mumbai stood at 1,44,918 million litres or 10.01% of their total useful storage capacity. Concerns have been raised over the city's water supply due to the delayed southwest monsoon and forecasts indicating the possible development of strong El Niño conditions later this year. However, the reservoirs currently hold more water than they did during the corresponding period in 2024 when it stood at 5.43% on this day. Monsoon generally reaches Mumbai around June 10, but its onset has been delayed this year. Last year, the monsoon arrived in the city in May, well ahead of its normal onset date. The delayed arrival and slow progress of the monsoon have prompted the BMC to closely monitor reservoir levels and implement water conservation measures.
The BriefWire